A  DAUGHTER 
9^THE  SOUTH 


GEORGE-  GARY-  EGGLESTON 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY' 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
MRS.  VIRGINIA  B.  SPORER 


. 


"  1    MUST    BKG    FOOD,    EVKX    FROM    AX    ENKMY    OF    MY    I.AXI)    AND 

MY  PEOPLE."     (See  payc  •*.) 


A  DAUGHTER  OF  THE 
SOUTH 

A  Wars-End  Romance 


BY 
GEORGE   GARY   EGGLESTON 

AUTHOR  OF  "  A  CAROLINA   CAVALIER,"   "  DOROTHY   SOUTH  " 

"  THE  MASTER  OF  WARLOCK,"   "  EVELYN   BYRD  " 

ETC.,   ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  E,  POLLAK 


BOSTON : 
LOTHROP,    LEE   &    SHEPARD    CO. 


PUBLISHED,  AUGUST,  1905. 


COPYRIGHT,  1905,  BY  LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  COMPANY 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


A  DAUGHTER  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


J.  8.  Gushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Muss.,  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  ON  THE  BANK  OF  THE  BAYOU        .        .        i 

II.  THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION  .        .      16 

III.  MASTER  AND  MAN   .....      24 

IV.  EZRA  BRASS 32 

V.  COMBS   AND   THAT   SORT   OF   THING  .  .         49 

VI.  AN  INTERRUPTED  INTERVIEW  55 

VII.  THE  MYSTERY  OF  GABRIELLE          .        .      71 

VIII.  THE  STORY  OF  GABRIELLE      ...      82 

IX.  AN  EMOTIONAL  CRISIS     .        .        .        .108 

X.  FOR  THE  FUTURE 113 

XI.  THE  WRATH  OF  EZRA  BRASS          .        .120 

XII.  "LYING  LIKE  A  GENTLEMAN"          .        .     127 

XIII.  A  "BUSINESS"  CONFERENCE    .        .        .     136 

XIV.  A  FAILURE  OF  NEGOTIATIONS         .        .     146 
XV.  AN  EPISODE  OF  INKSTANDS     .        .        .     153 

XVI.  FRENCH  AND  HORSESHOES       .        .        .163 

XVII.  A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON        .     177 

XVIII.  A  LECTURE  FROM  LIDA   .        .        .        .190 

XIX.  SUGGESTION 199 

XX.  A  LOST  OPPORTUNITY      ....    205 


2012066 


IV 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXI.  HUGH  MARVIN  MAKES  UP  HIS  MIND  . 

XXII.  "YOU   ARE   THE   RlGHTEST    MAN11 

XXIII.  PERSONA  NON  GRATA 

XXIV.  A  RATHER  BAD  NIGHT 

XXV.  SOME  RESULTS  OF  "SUGGESTION" 

XXVI.  A  YOUNG  MAN'S  MOODS     . 

XXVII.  JOHN  LAND,  COWARD 

XXVIII.  GABRIELLE'S  DETERMINATION     . 

XXIX.  HUGH  MARVIN'S  DISCOVERY 

XXX.  FRIGHT  AND  FLIGHT  .... 

XXXI.  Two  WOMEN 

XXXII.  GABRIELLE'S  PERPLEXITY  . 

XXXIII.  AFTER  THE  STORM      .... 

XXXIV.  A  GALE  ON  THE  GULF 

XXXV.  IN  NEGOTIATION          .... 

XXXVI.  THE  WAY  OF  THE  TRANSGRESSOR 

XXXVII.  A  SOLDIER'S  HONOR  .... 

XXXVIII.  THE  WAY  OF  A  MAN  WITH  A  MAID 

XXXIX.  FRONT  FACE 


PAGE 
215 
223 

233 
242 
25O 
263 
270 
282 
29O 
303 
317 

33° 
339 
345 
356 
363 
374 
388 

398 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"  I  must  beg  food,  even  from  an  enemy  of  my  land 

and  my  people."         ....        Frontispiece 

PAGE 

With   a   dexterity   that   astonished   the   blacksmith 

well-nigh  out  of  his  wits  .         .         .         .         .81 

On  the  instant   Hugh   Marvin   seized  him  by  the 

throat  and  hurled  him  overboard     .         .         .123 

Without  even  a  hint  of  challenge  to  him  to  follow, 

she  pushed  the  mare  to  her  fullest  racing  speed      193 

While  the  man  was  busied  about  the  fire,  John  Land 

was  a  trifle  less  wretched  than  before         .         .     276 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  dear,"  she  said  in  her  winning 

way 317 


A  Daughter  of  the  South 
I 

ON  THE  BANK   OF  THE  BAYOU 

THERE  was   a   good    deal    of    danger 
involved  in  frying  bacon  there  on  the 
bank  of  the  bayou,  especially  on  so 
dark  a  night.     The  glare  of  the  fire  or  the  odor 
of  the  bacon,  or  both,  might  at  any  moment 
bring  discovery  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  or 
the  Confederate  scouts  who  ceaselessly  prowled 
in  that  region. 

Hugh  Marvin  perfectly  knew  what  such  dis 
covery  would  mean  in  his  case.  The  scouts  in 
blue,  should  they  find  him  there  where  he  had 
no  business  to  be,  would  very  certainly  hang  him 
as  a  spy.  The  scouts  who  wore  the  gray,  if  they 
should  come  upon  him  there,  would  summarily 
riddle  him  with  bullets  as  a  person,  not  a  soldier, 

i 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

trespassing  upon  a  domain  in  which  only  soldiers 
had  any  conceivable  business  to  be. 

But  Hugh  Marvin  was  used  to  the  taking  of 
risks.  He  was  a  young  man  with  an  old  man's 
habit  of  taking  all  things  as  they  came  and 
adapting  his  conduct  to  whatever  circumstances 
might  arise.  He  was  cool  of  head,  deliberate, 
determined.  He  had  faith  in  his  own  ability  to 
take  care  of  himself,  and  that  faith  had  never 
yet  been  disappointed. 

For  the  rest,  Hugh  Marvin  had  no  personal 
acquaintance  with  fear.  Had  he  been  a  sol 
dier,  as  he  was  not,  he  would  have  been  always 
the  first  to  volunteer  for  the  work  of  desperate 
endeavor,  and  he  would  very  certainly  have  won 
either  a  grave  or  a  high  position  for  himself  by 
his  reckless  daring. 

Just  now  his  only  purpose  in  life  was  to  fry 
bacon.  His  corn-bread  was  maturing  itself 
under  the  ashes  of  his  fire,  and  he  was  bending 
over  a  skillet  with  all  the  devotion  of  a  cook 
who  is  possessed  of  a  conscience  —  a  being  rare 
on  this  earth,  but  still  now  and  then  existent. 
He  had  a  fancy  to  have  his  bacon  cooked  that 

2 


ON    THE    BANK    OF   THE    BAYOU 

evening,  —  he  had  eaten  it  raw  for  a  week  past, 
—  and  so  he  had  builded  him  a  little  fire  there 
upon  the  bayou's  bank,  under  the  moss-hung 
branches  of  a  low-spreading  live-oak  tree. 

Outside  the  circle  of  the  firelight  there  was 
inky  darkness  everywhere  —  a  darkness  intensi 
fied  by  the  low-hanging  clouds  that  were  just 
beginning  to  leak  in  a  fashion  that  forebode  a 
downpour  of  the  subtropical  sort. 

As  Hugh  Marvin  was  altogether  alone,  he 
naturally  had  no  pickets  out  to  warn  him  of 
approaching  danger.  His  ears  were  his  only 
sentries,  just  as  his  pistols  were  his  only  com 
rades. 

Fortunately  the  light  of  his  fire  did  not  bring 
any  enemy  upon  him,  for  the  time  at  least. 
But  the  odor  of  his  frying  bacon  spread  itself 
through  the  canebrake  woodlands,  and  pene 
trated  there  the  nostrils  of  one  who  was  ago 
nizingly  hungry. 

As  young  Marvin  sat  there,  intent  upon  his 
frying-pan,  his  alert  ears  suddenly  detected  a 
sound  that  did  not  belong  to  the  woodland  or 
the  bayou  or  the  canebrake. 

3 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

Instantly  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  brought 
both  his  six-shooters  to  full  cock,  and,  step 
ping  somewhat  aside  from  the  fire  so  as  to 
reduce  his  conspicuousness  as  a  target  to 
its  lowest  terms,  faced  the  approaching 
danger. 

That  danger  took  on  a  singularly  un- 
threatening  form.  It  approached  hurriedly 
in  the  shape  of  a  slender  and  very  graceful 
young  girl.  Her  large,  dark  eyes,  which  were 
deeply  sunken,  shone  like  signal-lights  in  the 
glare  of  the  fire.  Her  form  was  lithe  and 
her  motions  willowy.  Her  hair,  a  rich,  dark 
brown  mass,  had  broken  from  its  fastenings, 
and  now  flowed  over  her  shoulders  and  hung 
down  almost  to  her  knees. 

Advancing  quickly,  she  said  eagerly  but 
not  hurriedly,  in  rich,  Southern  accents :  "  I 
am  starving.  I  must  beg  food,  even  from 
an  enemy  of  my  land  and  my  people.  Give 
me  to  eat,  I  pray  you." 

For  reply  Hugh  Marvin,  after  lowering 
the  pistol  hammers  to  half  cock,  dexterously 
picked  crisp  rashers  from  his  frying-pan, 

4 


ON   THE    BANK    OF   THE    BAYOU 

daintily  using  his  thumb  and  forefinger 
in  lieu  of  the  fork  which  he  had  not,  and 
fed  them  to  the  famishing  girl.  Presently 
with  his  foot  he  kicked  an  ash-cake  out  of 
the  embers,  and  gave  the  crumb  of  it  to  the 
wild  creature  who  had  thus  come  out  of  the 
darkness  and  the  woodlands  to  crave  food  at 
his  hands. 

As  he  fed  her  famished  lips  he  saw  only 
these  things  :  — 

She  was  in  a  state  of  actual  starvation ; 

She  was  beautiful  after  the  far  Southern 
type; 

She  was  torn  and  bedraggled  as  to  her 
clothes,  and,  finally, 

Her  hair  had  not  been  combed  for  days  past 

So  much  of  observation  he  made  hurriedly. 
It  was  his  habit  to  see  quickly  all  that  there 
might  be  to  see  —  to  take  in  at  a  glance 
what  a  less  alert  observer  would  have  re 
quired  a  day  or  a  week  to  see. 

"  You  are  still  very  hungry,"  he  said  after  the 
girl  had  swallowed  the  fourth  rasher  of  bacon 
and  its  accompanying  ash-cake,  "  but  if  you 

5 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

don't  mind,  I  think  you'd  better  not  eat  any 
more  for  a  little  while  —  just  for  a  minute 
or  two  —  to  give  your  digestion  a  chance." 

"You  are  right,  I  suppose,"  answered  the 
girl,  with  that  extreme  deliberation  of  utterance 
which  characterizes  the  speech  of  high-bred, 
Southern  women,  —  "You  are  right,  I  suppose, 
and  I  will  fast  for  a  while,  though  I  am  very 
hungry.  You  are  hungry,  too,  I  doubt  not,  so 
you  must  eat  your  supper  now.  I'm  sorry  to 
have  interrupted  it." 

"Please  think  no  more  of  that,"  he  gallantly 
answered.  "  I  am  satisfied  in  ministering  to 
you."  After  two  minutes  or  so  he  placed  the 
frying-pan  and  the  ash-cake  on  a  fallen  tree 
trunk  and  said :  "  Now  you  shall  sit  down  on 
the  log  and  eat  with  me.  Your  digestive  appa 
ratus  has  had  sufficient  rest  by  this  time,  and 
you  may  eat  all  you  want." 

"  Thank  you.  You  are  very  kind  though  you 
are  a  Yankee." 

"What  constitutes  a  'Yankee'  in  your  mind, 
and  upon  what  grounds  do  you  assume  that  I 
am  one?" 

6 


ON   THE    BANK    OF   THE    BAYOU 

"  Oh,  well,  it's  simple  enough.  Every  healthy 
young  Southern  man  has  a  uniform  on.  You 
have  none,  though  you  are  — " 

She  hesitated  to  speak  the  thought  that  was 
in  her  mind.  That  thought  was  that  he  was 
about  as  perfect  a  specimen  of  stalwart  young 
manhood  as  any  that  she  had  ever  seen. 

"Well,  anyhow,"  she  resumed  after  an  inter 
val,  "you  aren't  a  Southern  soldier,  so  you  must 
be  a  Yankee." 

"  But  does  that  follow  of  necessity  ? "  he 
asked  in  a  mood  to  humor  her  and  "draw  her 
out."  "  Is  everybody  a  Yankee  who  happens  at 
this  time  not  to  wear  a  gray  uniform  ?" 

"  Practically,  yes.  Anyhow  you  seem  to  be  a 
gentleman,  so  you  can't  be  a  Southerner,  for 
every  Southern  gentleman  is  in  the  army." 

Hugh  Marvin  made  no  reply,  whereat  the 
girl  wondered. 

"  Why  don't  you  defend  yourself  ? "  she 
asked  irritatedly,  almost  querulously. 

"  Against  what  ?  " 

"  Why,  against  my  accusation  that  you  are  a 
Yankee." 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

"It  doesn't  impress  me  as  a  serious  accusa 
tion.  I  know  many  Yankees  who  are  thor 
oughly  good  men.  I  fail  to  see  why  I  should 
resent  being  called  a  Yankee." 

"  Only  think  what  the  Yankees  have  done 
and  are  doing  in  our  Southland,"  she  answered. 
"  Yes,"  he  replied  reflectively.  "  War  is 
utterly  brutal.  But  I  don't  think  it  is  more 
devilish  when  waged  by  one  people  than  when 
waged  by  another.  For  myself  I  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it." 

"  Have  you  never  been  a  soldier,  then  ? " 
"  Never.     And  in  this  war  I  never  shall  be." 
"You  see  that  the  South  is  right  ?  " 
"No.     I  see  that  the  South  is  utterly  wrong." 
"Then  you  think  the  North  is  right  in  invad 
ing  our  country  and  destroying  our  homes,  and 
even  setting  the  half-savage  negroes  upon  us  ? " 
"  Not  at  all,"  he  replied. 
"  But  surely  —  " 

"Please  let  me  explain,"  he  interrupted,  "in 
asmuch  as  you  are  good  enough  to  be  interested 
in  my  personal  views.     I  am  satisfied,  as  I  told 
you   a   moment  ago,  that  the   South  is  utterly 
8 


ON    THE    BANK    OF   THE    BAYOU 

wrong  in  this  war.  It  ought  never  to  have 
seceded.  I  am  equally  convinced  that  the 
North  also  is  utterly  wrong.  It  ought  never  to 
have  made  war  upon  the  seceding  states.  So  I 
have  refused  to  become  a  soldier  on  either  side. 
I  have  near  friends  in  the  Northern  army  and 
other  near  friends  in  the  Southern.  I  cannot 
regard  any  of  them  as  enemies.  I  am  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  you  know." 

"I  didn't  know.  I'm  glad  of  it,  because  — 
well,  because  I  rather  like  you.  At  least  I  like 
your  voice,  and  I  like  the  dainty  way  in  which 
you  picked  the  bacon  out  of  the  pan  and  put  it 
into  my  mouth.  You  scarcely  touched  it,  and 
you  used  only  your  thumb  and  finger.  I  like 
that,  and  better  still  I  like  the  way  in  which  you 
keep  your  little  fingers  extended,  when  you  are 
handling  things.  I  noticed  it  even  when  you 
were  manipulating  your  revolvers." 

"That  seems  to  me  a  rather  slender  reason 
for  liking  or  disliking  a  man." 

"Oh,  no,  it  isn't,"  she  answered  eagerly. 
"  Everything  of  that  kind  is  an  indication  of 
character.  A  man  who  extends  his  little  fin- 

9 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

gers  in  that  dainty  way,  and  touches  things  with 
only  the  fingers  that  he  must,  would  never  be 
rude  to  a  woman  or  ungentle  to  a  child.  It 
means  that  he  is  delicate  in  his  feelings  and  at 
the  same  time  has  strength  to  spare.  I  Lope 
you're  not  married." 

"  Thank  you  for  your  good-will.  No.  I  am 
not  married  or  even  engaged." 

"  I  am  so  glad,"  she  answered,  as  any  five- 
year-old  child  might. 

"  But  why  do  you  care  for  that  ? "  he  asked, 
full  of  curiosity,  not  so  much  concerning  the 
particular  matter  in  hand  as  concerning  tr.e 
girl  herself,  who  seemed  to  him  an  extraordinary 
combination  of  the  mature  woman  and  the 
little  child.  "  Why  should  you  care  whethei 
I'm  married  or  not  ?  " 

The  girl  flushed  crimson  in  the  firelight. 
Some  subtle  self-consciousness  had  come  to 
her  in  response  to  his  question.  But  she  was 
easily  mistress  of  herself,  and  so  she  answered 
as  the  flush  faded  out  of  her  countenance:  — 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  can  tell  you  why.  Oh, 
yes,  I  can.  It  is  because  you're  not  in  love 
10 


ON   THE    BANK   OF   THE    BAYOU 

with  anybody,  and  it  would  be  a  very  great 
pity  for  you  to  be  married  to  a  woman  you 
didn't  love." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  A  good  many  men  marry 
women  whom  they  respect  and  esteem  without 
particularly  loving  them,  and  they  manage  to 
get  a  good  deal  of  comfort  out  of  life." 

"  Horrible  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Still,  it  is  true 
enough.  But  those  are  cold-blooded  men,  and 
you  are  thoroughly  warm  blooded." 

"  Why  do  you  think  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  for  many  reasons.  You  have  pink  spots 
on  the  palms  of  your  hands,  on  the  outer-side 
up  near  the  wrists  ;  your  cheeks  flush  easily ; 
you  were  quick  in  handling  your  pistols ;  and 
when  you  saw  how  hungry  I  was,  you  fed  me 
quickly.  Then,  again,  the  way  you  are  talking 
to  me  now  means  a  world  of  warm-blooded 
kindliness.  You  know  I  am  on  the  verge  of 
collapse  ;  you  know  I  am  chattering  nonsense 
just  to  hold  myself  together ;  yet  you  indulge 
the  chatter,  and  encourage  it.  Oh,  you're  warm 
blooded." 

"You're  a  sorceress,  a  diviner,"  he  replied; 
ii 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

"  I  ought  to  be  afraid  of  you,  but  really  I'm 
not." 

"  Of  course  you  are  not.  You're  not  afraid 
of  anything.  Warm-blooded  men  never  are 
afraid  of  anything.  Now  I'm  going  back  to 
the  bushes." 

"No,  you  are  not.  It  is  beginning  to  rain 
again,  and  so  I'm  going  to  make  a  little  bush- 
shelter  for  you  here  before  the  fire.  When  that 
is  done,  I'll  go  out  into  the  bushes  myself  to 
sleep.  You  are  chilled  and  weak ;  you  must 
sleep  by  the  fire." 

He  busied  himself  at  once  with  the  hurried 
construction  of  the  bush-shelter  with  a  cover 
of  palmete  leaves,  while  the  girl  sat  upon  a 
log  watching  him  with  a  seeming  fascination. 

Marvin  saw  clearly  what  her  condition  was. 
She  was  overwrought,  —  worn  out,  well-nigh  in 
collapse,  —  and  she  was  resolutely  trying  to 
control  herself.  She  had  undergone  a  fearful 
experience  of  fright,  grief,  fatigue,  exposure, 
and  starvation.  She  had  lived  for  days  without 
food  or  sleep,  under  excessive  strain,  and  it 
was  only  by  moral  force  and  the  unyielding 

12 


ON   THE    BANK    OF    THE    BAYOU 

will  of  a  high-bred  woman  that  she  was  now 
able  to  save  herself  from  breakdown.  Her 
chin  was  one  that  betokened  boundless  strength 
of  character,  but  it  quivered  now  and  then  in 
spite  of  her  will  that  it  should  not.  Her  lips 
were  full,  rich,  and  ripe,  —  the  lips  of  a  true 
daughter  of  the  South,  —  but  they  were  nearly 
livid  now,  and  in  speaking  she  controlled  them 
with  difficulty. 

Hugh  Marvin  was  tenderly  considerate  of 
her  condition.  He  perfectly  understood  that  in 
all  she  had  said  to  him  she  had  forced  herself 
to  speak  lightly  and  queerly,  as  her  only  means 
of  avoiding  hysterical  collapse,  —  that  her  words 
had  been  only  such  as  she  could  for  the 
moment  call  to  mind,  and  that  they  had  been 
spoken  with  little  if  any  reference  to  their 
meaning. 

He  saw  clearly  that  the  case  was  one  for  the 
utmost  tenderness  of  care,  and  the  utmost  dis 
cretion  in  giving  such  care.  As  he  worked  in 
constructing  the  shelter,  he  now  and  then  saw, 
from  the  corner  of  his  eyes,  a  gentle  flow  of 
tears  down  the  maiden's  cheeks,  but  he  pre- 
13 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

tended  not  to  see,  in  aid  of  her  manifest  dis 
position  to  conceal  her  weakness.  For  further 
relief  he  chattered  ceaselessly,  pretending  to 
instruct  her  in  the  art  of  building  a  bush-shel 
ter,  and  exercising  the  utmost  care  that  there 
should  be  no  lapse  of  the  conversation  into 
matters  personal  or  emotional.  His  method 
was  that  of  the  skilled  nurse  who  seeks  to  divert 
the  patient's  mind  from  emotional  to  common 
place  thoughts. 

As  his  work  neared  completion  it  was  rudely 
interrupted.  A  twelve-pounder  shell,  fired  from 
nearly  three  thousand  yards  away,  alighted  in 
the  midst  of  his  fire,  and  exploding,  scattered  the 
burning  sticks  in  every  direction,  completely 
extinguishing  the  blaze.  At  the  same  moment 
minie"  balls,  fired  at  long  but  still  effective  range, 
began  viciously  whizzing,  buzzing,  and  zipping 
around  the  pair. 

Instantly  seizing  the  girl  by  the  waist,  the 
strong  young  man  carried  her  bodily  over  the 
bank.  Running  down  along  the  stream  with 
the  speed  of  a  sprinter,  he  quickly  carried  her 
outside  the  zone  of  random  fire,  except  that  the 


ON   THE    BANK    OF   THE    BAYOU 

wildly  exploring  cannon  was  now  shelling  the 
woods  in  every  direction  with  that  ineffective 
ness  which  usually  characterizes  a  waste  of 
ammunition  of  that  purposeless  sort. 

"  Put  me  down  on  my  feet,"  commanded  the 
girl,  after  a  few  moments.  "  I'm  not  an  invalid 
or  a  child  ;  I  can  walk." 

"Be  still!"  the  young  man  replied,  "I  am 
simply  saving  you." 

A  moment  later  he  deposited  her  in  the  stern 
of  a  dugout,  —  a  hollow  log  canoe,  —  and,  him 
self  going  to  the  bow,  paddled  away  rapidly 
down  the  stream. 

He  felt  rather  than  saw  in  the  darkness 
that  she  had  fainted.  But  he  wisely  gave  no 
heed.  He  knew  that  her  position,  lying  pros 
trate  in  the  boat  as  she  did,  was  the  most 
favorable  one  possible  for  a  fainting  person. 
He  knew,  too,  that  the  girl  would  recover  pres 
ently,  as  well  without  any  assistance  from  him 
as  with  it.  So  he  obeyed  the  impulse  of  prac 
tical  common  sense  and  paddled  swiftly  and 
noiselessly  down  the  stream  and  out  of  the 
zone  of  fire. 

15 


II 


THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION 

IT   was   ten   o'clock   in    the  morning  when 
Hugh    Marvin,    after    a    night    of    weary 
paddling,    pushed    his    canoe    through    a 
fog  well-nigh  thick  enough  to    be   ladled   with 
a   spoon,    and    brought    her   alongside   a   little 
stern-wheel  steamboat   anchored    midstream. 

The  men  on  board  stood  with  rifles  cocked, 
ready  to  repel  his  approach  with  a  deadly 
volley,  but  fortunately  the  officer  in  charge 
of  them  recognized  him  in  time  and  restrained 
the  firing. 

Once  on  board  the  steamboat,  Marvin  as 
sumed  command  of  everybody  there. 

"  Send  the  chief  engineer  and   the  pilot   to 

me  instantly,"  he   said   to  the   man  in  charge 

of    the   rifle    squad.      "In    the   meanwhile   let 

some  of  you  men  carry  this  young  woman  as 

16 


THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION 

gently  as  possible  to  the  protected  stateroom. 
She  needs  rest." 

Then  turning  to  the  chief  engineer,  who 
had  presented  himself,  Marvin  asked :  — 

"  Have  you  steam  pressure  ?  " 

"  Yes,  a  hundred  and  forty  pounds.  I 
can  make  it  a  hundred  and  sixty  in  ten 
minutes." 

"We  won't  wait  for  that.  But  fire  up  as 
fast  as  you  can.  We'll  need  all  the  speed 
we  can  make  after  we  round  the  bend."  Then 
turning  to  the  pilot  he  said  :  — 

"  Get  under  way  quick.  The  Rebels  are 
around  here  in  strong  force  with  several 
batteries.  Run  down  the  bayou  at  full  speed 
and  out  into  the  river.  It's  only  a  chance 
that  we  get  there  at  all." 

It  was  so  indeed.  No  sooner  had  the  steam 
boat  passed  beyond  a  certain  protecting  point 
than  a  merciless  fire  of  twelve-pounder  Napo 
leons  and  searching  Enfield  rifles  was  opened 
upon  her  from  both  banks  of  the  sluggish 
waterway.  The  engines  and  boilers  of  the 
boat  —  her  vitals  as  it  were  —  were  protected 

'7 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

by  thick  bulkheads  of  timber  that  even  a  twelve- 
pound  solid  shot  could  not  penetrate.  The 
pilot,  in  his  lofty  eyrie,  was  shielded  behind 
a  triple-boiler  iron  barrier.  The  hull  of  the 
steamer  was  protected  by  a  chain-laced  timber 
raft  which  contributed  to  safety,  while  its  re 
sistance  to  the  water  greatly  hindered  speed. 

Hugh  Marvin  had  no  protection  at  all  as 
he  stood  there  upon  the  hurricane-deck  by 
the  side  of  his  first  mate  amid  a  shower  of 
minie  bullets,  with  now  and  then  a  bursting 
shell  to  emphasize  the  seriousness  of  the  situ 
ation.  He  felt  himself  responsible  for  the 
safety  of  the  cotton-laden  steamer,  and  so  he 
stood  unflinchingly  upon  her  exposed  hurricane- 
deck  in  the  midst  of  the  cannon  and  musketry 
fire,  in  order  that  his  commands  might  be 
promptly  given  and  instantly  obeyed. 

Turning  presently  to  call  out  a  command  to 
the  pilot,  he  saw  beside  him  the  girl  he  had 
brought  out  of  the  bayou. 

"What  in  the  name  of  sanity  are  you 
doing  here  ? "  he  asked.  "  I  ordered  you  to 
a  stateroom  that  is  doubly  protected  with 
18 


THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION 

boiler  iron  and  a  tier  of  cotton  bales.  Go 
back  to  it  at  once  ! " 

The  girl  made  no  answer  and  no  movement 
as  if  to  obey  his  command.  She  simply  stood 
there  in  a  shower  of  bullets,  from  which  she 
did  not  flinch,  with  now  and  then  a  shell 
whose*  bursting  produced  no  visible  effect 
upon  her  nerves  or  her  demeanor.  She  looked 
at  him  with  wide-open  but  not  understanding 
eyes.  He  saw  that  she  was  dazed  and  in  a 
state  of  semi-unconsciousness. 

"And  no  wonder!"  he  thought.  "The  girl 
has  been  starved  for  many  days  past  and 
fearfully  overwrought.  She  has  had  no  food 
since  I  gave  her  the  bacon  and  ash-cake  last 
night.  What  an  idiot  I  am !  " 

Then  he  called  to  one  of  his  men,  who 
came,  crouching  low  by  way  of  avoiding  so 
much  as  he  could  of  the  fire. 

"  Escort  this  young  woman  to  the  protected 
stateroom,  quick.  Then  tell  the  steward  that 
he  is  to  serve  her  a  breakfast  there  in  the 
fewest  number  of  minutes  possible.  Be  quick, 
and  tell  the  steward  to  be  quick.  Tell  him 

19 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

not  to  wait  for  frills,  but  to  send  up  food  and 
coffee  at  once !" 

A  little  later  the  steamboat  rounded  a  point 
beyond  which  there  were  no  hostile  forces  near 
at  hand,  and  so,  except  for  a  random  shot  now 
and  then,  the  firing  upon  her  ceased. 

It  was  only  necessary  now  for  Hugh  Marvin 
to  direct  the  extinguishment  of  such  fires  as 
the  shells  had  started  among  his  cotton  bales, 
and  to  seek  a  secure  anchorage  in  the  river  he 
had  at  last  reached. 

Then  he  paid  something  like  a  formal  call 
upon  the  girl,  his  captive.  He  found  her  sitting 
before  the  meal  that  had  been  served  to  her 
by  the  steward  in  obedience  to  his  orders. 
She  had  tasted  no  morsel  of  the  food,  but  sat 
staring  at  it  like  one  in  a  dream. 

"  Why  have  you  not  eaten  ? "  he  asked. 
"  Surely  you  are  hungry  ?  " 

"Yes,"  she  answered  in  her  low,  soft,  delib 
erate,  contralto  tones,  "yes,  I  am  very  hungry. 
But  I'm  not  a  pauper.  I  will  not  take  food  in 
charity,  and  I  have  no  money  with  which  to 
pay." 

20 


THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION 

"  But  heavens  and  earth !  this  is  not  charity," 
he  answered  excitedly.  "  While  you  are  on  this 
steamboat,  you  are  my  guest.  Surely  your  host 
may  offer  you  food  without  affront." 

"  That  is  true,"  she  said  meditatively,  and  as 
if  weighing  the  matter  in  her  mind.  Then, 
after  a  pause,  she  added:  — 

"  No,  that  isn't  quite  true.  I'm  not  your 
invited  guest.  I  came  out  of  the  canebrake 
and  asked  you  for  food.  I  made  myself  a  beg 
gar  and  shamed  myself,  and  this  is  only  the 
sequel  to  that." 

"  And  I,"  he  answered,  "  feel  myself  your 
debtor  for  your  company  at  supper.  It  was  a 
very  great  pleasure  to  me  to  minister  to  your 
need,  not  as  a  benefactor  or  a  giver  of  alms, 
but  as  the  host  of  a  very  welcome  guest.  But 
let  us  put  that  aside.  All  that  relates  to  last 
night's  supper.  You  remember  that  when  the 
firing  began  I  took  forcible  possession  of  you 
and  brought  you  here  against  your  will.  In 
brief,  I  made  you  a  captive,  my  prisoner,  and 
the  captor  must  feed  his  prisoner,  must  he 
not?" 

21 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

The  girl  looked  at  him  out  of  her  deeply 
sunken  eyes.  Then  she  rose  to  her  feet  and 
said :  — 

"Yes,  you  are  warm  blooded.  So  am  I.  I 
will  partake  of  your  food,  and  I  thank  you." 

"I  will  eat  with  you,  if  you  permit,"  he  an 
swered,  "for  I,  too,  have  had  no  breakfast." 

Then,  calling  to  a  boy,  he  sent  an  order  to 
the  steward  for  fresh  supplies  that  should  be 
hot,  as  those  on  the  table  had  grown  cold. 

He  saw  clearly  that  the  girl  was  still  in 
tensely  excited  and  not  quite  mistress  of  her 
self,  though  her  effort  to  control  herself  was 
obvious  in  every  word  and  tone.  So  for  a  time 
he  let  her  alone,  asking  no  questions  even  of  an 
indirect  sort. 

After  the  breakfast  had  begun  to  have  its 
normally  soothing  effect,  he  said  to  her :  — 

"I  am  going  away  now  for  a  time  to  give 
such  orders  as  may  be  needed  for  the  fleet  of 
which  I  have  command.  When  I  return,  per 
haps  you  will  be  good  enough  to  tell  me  how  I 
am  to  address  you.  You  see  I  don't  know  your 
name." 

22 


THE  CEREMONY  OF  INTRODUCTION 

"Pardon  me,"  she  quickly  answered,    "that 
was  an  oversight.     I  am  Gabrielle  Latour." 
"And  I,"  he  answered,  "am  Hugh  Marvin." 
"Thank  you,"  she  said,  as  if  to  bow  him  in 
queenly  fashion  out  of   her   presence,  and   he 
took  his  departure,  saying  only :  — 

"  I  hope  you  may  be  able  to  get  some  sleep." 
And  in  aid  of  that  hope  he  promptly  ordered 
the  steamboat  to  proceed  five  miles  or  so  up 
stream  to  an  anchorage  in  which  she  would  be 
free  from  the  disturbance  of  even  occasional 
shells  from  Confederate  cannon. 

Meanwhile  Gabrielle  Latour  slept,  and  grew 
less  hollow-eyed. 


23 


Ill 


MASTER  AND   MAN 

THE   fleet   which    Hugh    Marvin    com 
manded    consisted    of    seven     small 
stern-wheel      steamboats      of      light 
draught.     The  business  they  were  engaged  in 
was  that  of   buying   and   bringing  out   of  the 
South  such  cotton  as  they  could. 

That  period  of  the  Civil  War  had  come, 
when  the  struggle  —  in  the  West  at  least — had 
begun  its  lapse  from  patriotism  to  plunder, 
when  greed  had  begun  to  take  the  place  of 
glory  in  men's  minds. 

By  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson, 
the  Mississippi  River,  from  its  source  to  the 
sea,  had  been  opened  to  navigation.  But  the 
country  traversed  by  the  great  river  was  still 
a  region  of  tumult  and  turmoil.  It  was  certain 
that  no  more  great  armies  would  assemble  there 

24 


MASTER   AND    MAN 

to  try  conclusions  on  broad  strategic  lines,  but 
alert  and  vigorous  bands  of  Confederates  still 
ceaselessly  haunted  the  swamps  and  smaller 
streams  and  the  woodlands  along  their  banks, 
and  with  mosquito-like  persistence  made  the 
occupation  of  the  country  by  their  adversaries 
a  difficult  and  perilous  task. 

Up  and  down  the  great  river  itself  the  mer 
chant  fleets  as  well  as  those  of  war  might 
steam  in  comparative  security,  though  even 
there  they  had  to  look  out  for  themselves. 
But  the  creeks  and  bayous  and  tributary 
streams,  whose  navigation  was  necessary  to  the 
effective  use  of  the  river  for  purposes  of  com 
merce,  were  veritable  hornets'  nests  still. 

Even  earlier  than  this  the  time  had  come 
when  greedy  speculators  had  begun  to  grow 
rich  out  of  war  operations,  with  so  certain  and 
so  speedy  a  success  that  they  actually  feared 
and  dreaded  the  end  of  a  contest  out  of  which 
they  were  making  money  easily  and  in  enor 
mous  sums. 

These  men  clearly  foresaw  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  the  Union  arms,  and  brutishly 

25 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

dreaded  it  as  an  event  that  must  interfere  with 
their  "business."  They  were  men  who  cared 
not  at  all  how  many  young  lives  might  be  put 
out  by  the  continuance  of  the  war,  or  how  many 
homes  at  the  North  and  at  the  South  might 
fall  into  the  shadow,  or  how  great  might  be 
what  in  their  commercial  phrase  they  would 
perhaps  have  called  the  "output"  of  widows 
and  orphans,  if  only  the  war  could  continue 
indefinitely  to  afford  them  opportunities  of 
gain. 

Ezra  Brass  —  a  man  of  this  type  —  was  one 
of  the  owners  and  promoters  of  the  cotton- 
buying  expedition  of  which  Hugh  Marvin  was 
in  command.  So  when  Marvin  sent  for  the 
captains  of  the  six  other  steamers  to  come  on 
board  his  own  vessel  and  report  on  their  car 
goes,  Ezra  Brass  came  also.  He  was  not  one 
of  the  captains  of  the  fleet,  subject  to  Hugh 
Marvin's  orders.  On  the  contrary,  as  one  of 
the  half-dozen  chief  owners  of  that  fleet,  he 
deemed  himself  entitled  to  give  orders  on  board 
any  and  all  the  seven  little  steamboats  that  con 
stituted  the  squadron. 

26 


MASTER   AND    MAN 

Hugh  Marvin  declined  to  recognize  his  right 
in  that  respect.  He  had  reasons  of  his  own 
just  now  for  not  wanting  to  see  the  man. 
When  he  saw  Ezra  Brass  approaching,  he 
hurriedly  arose  to  meet  him. 

"  Go  away  !  "  he  commanded.  "  Go  away 
at  once,  and  don't  let  me  see  you  again  till 
we  land  at  Cairo." 

"But  I  own  this  steamboat,"  began  Brass, 
in  surprised  protest. 

"No,  you  don't,"  answered  the  younger  man, 
calmly,  but  with  some  touches  of  anger  in  his 
tone.  "  I  own  four-fifths  of  her  myself,  and  the 
other  fifth  belongs  to  a  personal  friend  of  mine. 
I  order  you  off." 

Brass  remembered  that  this  statement  of 
ownership  was  true.  At  the  beginning  of 
his  cotton-buying  operations  down  the  river 
he  had  employed  Marvin  as  "a  young  chap 
that  don't  mind  the  risks."  The  task  set 
the  youth  was  to  go  up  the  little  streams 
and  bayous  secretly,  in  a  canoe,  and  at 
momentary  risk  of  his  life.  He  was  there 
to  buy  cotton  at  prices  ranging  from  half 
27 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

a  cent  to  ten  cents  a  pound,  according  to 
the  risk  and  difficulty  of  getting  it  out.  The 
planters  who  sold  the  cotton  were  to  pile 
it  on  the  banks  of  the  streams  and  bayous, 
and  the  speculators  who  bought  it  were  to 
take  the  risk  of  capturing  it  there  and  getting 
it  to  market. 

That  risk  was  considerable,  but  the  profit 
was  enormous.  The  cotton  thus  bought  for 
a  trifle  on  the  banks  of  bayous  and  little 
rivers  was  worth  at  the  North  in  the  year 
1864  as  much  as  a  dollar  and  ninety-two 
cents  a  pound.  A  bale  weighing  five  hun 
dred  pounds  could  be  had  on  the  banks  of 
a  bayou  for  from  five  to  fifty  dollars.  It 
could  be  sold  in  New  York  at  from  seven 
hundred  to  nine  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Here  all  the  dreams  of  avarice  were  made 
actualities,  and  avarice  was  prompt  to  seize  the 
opportunity. 

It  was  in  aid  of  speculation  of  this  sort  that 

Ezra  Brass  had  at  first  employed   the   young 

Kentuckian,    Hugh    Marvin.     Ever   since    that 

time    Hugh   Marvin    had   served   his  employer 

28 


MASTER   AND    MAN 

with  a  fidelity  that  never  shrank  from  hard 
ship  or  flinched  in  face  of  danger.  But  he 
had  many  times  revolted  and  refused  to  do 
Brass's  bidding,  because  he  saw  dishonesty  in 
the  services  demanded  at  his  hands.  "  I  will 
keep  myself  clean,"  he  had  said,  "even  if  I 
must  drown  myself  in  the  muddy  river  to  do  it." 

And  he  had  kept  himself  clean.  He  had 
little  by  little  taught  Brass  to  understand  that 
the  honest  man  must  in  some  respects  be  the 
master  of  the  dishonest  man,  even  when  the 
dishonest  one  is  paymaster  and  the  other  is  a 
salaried  subordinate. 

But  Hugh  Marvin  had  not  been  satisfied  with 
refusing  to  do  dishonest  things  for  Ezra  Brass. 
He  had  steadfastly  insisted  upon  the  dishonesty 
of  the  wages  paid  him.  He  had  repeatedly  com 
pelled  an  increase  until  his  earnings  grew  large, 
and  as  he  was  a  man  of  inexpensive  habits,  he 
had  accumulated  a  considerable  wealth  of  his 
own. 

Then  he  had  assumed  new  relations.  As  Ezra 
Brass's  enterprises  had  enlarged  their  scope 
so  as  to  require  a  greater  financial  backing 
29 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

than  his  own,  he  had  associated  other  capital 
ists  with  him,  forming  what  would  now  be 
called  a  "syndicate."  That  word  of  originally 
evil  import,  which  still  covers  much  of  sin,  was 
not  applied  to  reasonably  honest  business  com 
binations  until  ten  years  after  the  time  of  Ezra 
Brass's  cotton-buying  operations.  But  the  fact 
existed  then  as  now,  innocently  or  otherwise  as 
the  case  might  be. 

When  this  latest  expedition  was  in  prepara 
tion,  Hugh  Marvin  had  put  himself  into  it  in 
a  way  which  he  had  not  attempted  before. 
He  had  by  that  time  accumulated  considerable 
money,  and  a  good  deal  more  of  that  respect 
on  the  part  of  men  of  substance  which  is 
sometimes  worth  more  than  money.  So  he 
had  made  himself  in  effect  owner  of  that  one 
of  the  seven  steamboats  on  which  he  personally 
sailed  as  the  salaried  commander  of  the  entire 
expedition.  The  other  six  boats  belonged  to 
Ezra  Brass  and  his  personal  associates  —  one- 
third  interest,  perhaps,  being  Brass's  own,  and 
the  rest  being  subject,  in  one  way  or  another, 
to  his  control. 

30 


MASTER   AND    MAN 

As  practically,  though  not  actually,  chief 
owner  of  the  expedition,  Brass  had  from  the 
first  assumed  the  right  to  direct  its  operations 
from  some  secure  vantage-ground,  for  it  was 
a  "business  principle"  with  him  to  avoid  per 
sonal  physical  risks.  "  I  can  hire  other  fel 
lows  to  get  killed,"  he  used  to  say,  "a  good 
deal  cheaper  than  I  can  take  bullet  chances 
myself." 

He  had  from  the  first  assumed  that  he  was 
himself  master  of  this  cotton-buying  expedition 
and  of  all  the  steamboats  composing  it,  though 
Hugh  Marvin  had  an  interest  in  all  of  them  and 
was  in  command  of  all.  He  was  a  good  deal 
nonplussed,  therefore,  when  Hugh  Marvin  repu 
diated  his  authority  and  ordered  him  off  the 
steamboat.  But  he  obeyed  the  order. 


IV 

EZRA   BRASS 

EZRA  BRASS  was  not  a  sensitive  person. 
Throughout  his  life  it  had  been  his 
boast  that  he  was  "practical  "  above  all 
things.  He  was  so  in  fact.  He  had  never  in 
all  his  life  sacrificed  a  cent  to  a  sentiment.  He 
had  never  shown  reluctance  to  pocket  an 
affront  if  he  could  pocket  a  dollar  with  it.  He 
had  never  "quarrelled  with  his  bread  and 
butter,"  and  just  now  he  realized  that  the  alert 
and  capable  services  of  Hugh  Marvin  meant  a 
good  deal  of  bread  and  butter  to  him,  particu 
larly  as  his  partners  in  this  enterprise  were 
likely  to  support  Marvin  in  a  controversy. 

He  did  not  at  all  understand  the  young  man. 
He  had  often  wondered  that  "  so  smart  a  chap 
as  Marvin  should  be  fool  enough  to  throw 
away  his  chances,"  as  that  young  man  had  often 
done,  by  refusing  to  do  dishonest  things  which 
promised  gain  with  little  or  no  risk. 

32 


EZRA    BRASS 

Nevertheless  he  realized  that  Marvin's  ser 
vices  were  of  inestimable  value  to  himself,  and 
even  that  Marvin's  integrity  had  sometimes 
served  him  well. 

If  the  young  man  had  brought  to  naught 
many  of  his  most  promising  schemes  of  dis 
honest  gain  by  refusing  to  engage  in  them, 
and  now  and  then  by  threatening  their  exposure, 
on  the  other  hand  Hugh  Marvin's  absurdly 
sentimental  integrity  had  stood  Brass  in  good 
stead  upon  occasion. 

"  The  young  fool  might  have  got  away  with 
a  pot  o'  my  money  that  time,"  he  once  said, 
"if  he  hadn't  been  so  damned  honest.  And  the 
same  thing  has  happened  a  good  many  other 
times." 

So  Ezra  Brass  had  accustomed  himself  not  to 
take  the  occasional  insolences  and  insults  of  his 
employee  Hugh  Marvin  too  seriously.  It  was 
his  habit  of  mind  to  accept  and  overlook  them 
as  personal  peculiarities  which  he  could  not  at 
all  understand,  but  with  which  he  must  reckon, 
in  spite  of  himself. 

In  brief,  Ezra  Brass  was  a  speculator  to  whose 

33 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

mind  everything  presented  itself  as  a  possible 
minister  to  his  greed.  It  was  said  of  him  that 
the  only  reason  he  had  never  sold  his  wife  and 
children  was  that  nobody  had  ever  offered  him 
as  much  for  them  as  they  were  worth  to  him. 
As  for  honor,  conscience,  or  scruple  of  any 
kind,  he  had  never  possessed  commodities  of 
that  sort  to  throw  upon  the  market. 

Ezra  Brass  had  begun  life  on  a  farm  in 
southern  Indiana.  He  was  a  speculator  even 
while  at  school.  Marbles,  jack-knives,  red 
apples,  and  the  like  had  been  his  merchandise 
then  ;  but  even  at  that  early  age  he  did  not  fail 
to  understand  the  special  value  of  actual  money 
as  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  so  whenever  he 
made  a  trade  of  any  kind,  he  exacted  "ftps"  or 
"  bits  "  as  boot. 

The  money  that  could  be  made  in  that  way, 
however,  in  a  school  in  which  the  total  amount 
of  the  circulating  medium  did  not  exceed  a  few 
dollars,  was  naturally  not  much.  So  Ezra  Brass 
did  not  get  his  real  start  in  life  till  he  fell  upon 
an  opportunity  to  rob  his  father. 

That    happened    when    the    boy    was    about 

34 


EZRA    BRASS 

twenty  years  of  age.  It  was  his  father's  prac 
tice  every  year  to  put  all  the  produce  of  his 
farm  on  board  a  flatboat  and  float  it  to  New 
Orleans  for  sale.  One  year  the  boy  Ezra  was 
allowed  to  go  down  the  river  as  a  "  hand  "  on 
board  the  flatboat.  The  next  year,  his  father's 
health  being  unsatisfactory,  Ezra,  as  a  bright 
and  helpful  young  man,  suggested  that  he  knew 
the  business  well  enough  to  manage  the  enter 
prise  himself,  and  it  was  arranged  that  he 
should  do  so. 

He  took  the  flatboat  to  New  Orleans  in 
safety.  He  sold  the  boat  and  cargo  with  excel 
lent  discretion,  and  he  took  back  with  him 
memoranda  showing  that  he  had  so  shrewdly 
managed  the  business  as  to  get  a  good  deal 
better  prices  for  the  farm  produce  than  his 
father  had  ever  been  able  to  secure. 

But  Ezra  brought  back  no  money  with  him. 
He  reported  that  all  had  gone  well  with  him 
until  the  evening  before  his  arrival  at  home. 
On  that  evening  he  had  boarded  the  "  Mail- 
boat  "  at  Louisville,  and  feeling  safe  now,  had 
left  his  belt,  containing  the  eight  hundred  and 

35 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

odd  dollars  of  net  proceeds,  in  his  stateroom. 
Somebody  had  entered  the  stateroom,  he  said, 
and  had  stolen  the  belt  with  its  heavy  load  of 
Spanish  coin. 

For  three  days  after  Ezra  told  that  story  his 
father  reflected  upon  it.  Then,  one  morning 
early,  the  elder  man  called  his  son,  and  said  to 
him:  — 

"  Ezra,  I  reckon  you'd  better  go  off  some 
where  and  set  up  for  yourself ;  you  can  sell 
onions  and  hay  and  hams  a  good  deal  higher 
in  New  Orleans  than  ever  I  could,  so  it  seems 
to  me  you'll  get  on.  But,  with  your  habit  of 
leavin'  money  around  loose,  I've  concluded 
you're  too  expensive  a  luxury  for  a  plain  farmer 
like  me  to  keep  on  hand,  so  you'd  better  go, 
Ezra.  Me  and  the  rest  of  the  family  will  pull 
through  somehow  till  we  make  another  crop." 

So  before  attaining  his  majority,  Ezra  Brass 
left  home  to  do  for  himself. 

He  rather  regretted  that  he  must  leave  his 

mother   while    buckwheat    cakes    were    still  in 

season,  but  he  reflected  that  "  there  are  higher 

things  than  buckwheat  cakes  to  live  for  in  an 

36 


EZRA    BRASS 

earnest  world."  He  had  purloined  the  sub 
stance  of  that  phrase  from  a  Methodist  preacher 
whom  he  had  talked  with  on  a  steamboat,  and 
who  had  tried  to  "improve  an  opportunity"  to 
win  the  youth  from  sordid  views  of  life. 

Otherwise  Ezra  Brass  was  entirely  content 
to  leave  the  paternal  roof,  with  such  small 
possessions  as  he  had,  including  a  coin-packed 
belt  which  he  returned  by  night  to  dig  up  from 
the  sand  beneath  a  well-remembered  sycamore 
tree  down  by  the  river. 

From  that  time  until  the  war  broke  out  Ezra 
Brass  managed  to  do  fairly  well  for  himself  in 
speculation  of  one  sort  and  another,  so  that 
when  the  war  came,  he  had  several  thousand 
dollars  employed  in  his  business,  and  was  reck 
oned  a  capitalist  of  some  note  in  a  region  where 
a  few  thousands  then  meant  far  more  than 
vastly  larger  sums  mean  now  anywhere. 

The  war,  however,  brought  to  Ezra  Brass 
his  first  adequate  opportunity.  There  "  wasn't 
much  money  in  it,"  he  used  to  relate,  "  till  after 
things  sort  o'  got  a-goin'  our  way."  For  several 
years  preceding  the  war  he  had  "  maintained 

37 


business  relations  "  with  the  South.  That  is 
to  say  he  had  been  surreptitiously  active  in 
inducing  negro  slaves  there  to  run  away  and 
cross  the  Ohio,  where  he  became  active  in 
capturing  them,  and  returning  them  to  their 
masters  in  every  case  in  which  an  adequate 
reward  was  offered.  In  his  own  picturesque 
phrase  he  "  worked  the  underground  railroad 
for  a  profit  both  ways." 

When  the  war  came,  a  prospect  of  much 
larger  and  less  risky  earning  opened  itself  to 
this  "  practical  man's  "  vision.  As  soon  as 
contracts  were  advertised  for,  he  began  look 
ing  into  the  matter,  and  now  and  then  he  made 
a  little  profit  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  per  cent 
by  supplying  the  army  with  one  or  another 
necessity. 

But  in  that  early  stage  of  the  war  quarter 
masters  and  purchasing  agents  were  reasonably 
honest.  More  annoying  still,  there  was  an 
exacting  supervision  and  scrutiny  "  higher  up," 
So  that  the  enterprises  of  Ezra  Brass  were  sub 
ject  to  an  embarrassing  surveillance  which 
sharply  limited  the  profit  of  them. 
38 


EZRA    BRASS 

The  "  real  thing "  —  again  to  employ  Ezra 
Brass's  own  form  of  speech  —  did  not  come 
until  later,  when  the  government's  needs  ran 
up  into  multimillions,  and  when  "  men  of  open 
minds,"  as  he  described  them,  came  into  control 
both  of  the  letting  and  of  the  criticism  of  con 
tracts. 

Then  it  was  that  Ezra  Brass  first  secured  a 
satisfactory  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  his 
genius  for  business.  The  government  wanted 
shoes  for  its  soldiers.  It  wanted  clothing  for 
them.  It  must  have  blankets.  Ezra  Brass 
knew  very  little  about  shoes,  clothing,  and 
blankets,  but,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  boast, 
he  was  "  mighty  quick  to  learn." 

He  went  East  for  his  education,  and  got  it 
from  men  whose  charges  for  tuition  he  was 
willing  enough  to  pay.  He  was  presently 
"  enabled  to  provide  for  his  family  "  by  furnish 
ing,  at  twice  or  thrice  their  cost,  army  over 
coats  that  had  a  tendency  to  dissolve  in  a 
heavy  dew,  and  shoes  that  went  to  pieces  the 
first  time  their  wearers  indiscreetly  marched 
through  a  mud  puddle.  As  for  blankets,  he 

39 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

found  a  manufacturer  who  knew  how  to  make 
an  "all  wool"  article  out  of  ten  per  cent  of 
sheep's  coating  and  ninety  per  cent  of  cotton. 
But  the  price  of  cotton  presently  became  so 
high  that  Ezra  Brass  decided  not  to  go  into 
blanket  contracts. 

After  Grant  had  reduced  the  Confederate 
forts  —  Henry  and  Donelson  —  on  the  Tennes 
see  and  Cumberland  rivers,  and  in  some  degree 
opened  the  South  to  traffic  under  military  sur 
veillance,  the  business  sagacity  of  Ezra  Brass 
enabled  him  to  see  and  seize  other  oppor 
tunities. 

Trade  with  the  people  along  the  shores  of 
those  rivers  was  permitted  by  the  government 
only  under  such  restrictions  as  were  made 
necessary  by  war  conditions.  Cargoes  must 
in  every  case  be  inspected,  in  order  that  no 
war  materials  or  other  contraband  goods  should 
in  that  way  reach  the  Confederates. 

A    good    many   enterprising    men    at    once 

bought   steamboats,    and    actively   engaged   in 

this   restricted   commerce.      But    not    one    of 

them  made  so  much  money  out  of  it  as   did 

40 


EZRA    BRASS 

Ezra  Brass.  That  was  because  of  his  superior 
sagacity.  His  competitors,  anxious  to  market 
large  cargoes,  sent  comparatively  large  and 
costly  steamboats  up  the  rivers.  If  one  of 
these  was  lost,  through  capture  by  a  Confeder 
ate  force  or  otherwise,  the  profits  of  its 
owner's  business  for  many  months  were  gone. 
Ezra  Brass  took  no  such  foolish  risks.  He 
employed  none  but  the  smallest,  most  insig 
nificant  "dinkies"  in  the  trade.  His  "luck" 
was  so  carefully  cared  for  by  his  sagacity 
that  he  never  lost  even  one  of  these  small 
craft.  The  fact  was  often  commented  upon 
when  news  came  that  a  Confederate  raiding 
party  had  captured,  looted,  and  destroyed 
some  other  man's  more  costly  steamer,  carry 
ing  away  her  cargo  of  goods  permitted  to  be 
shipped. 

But  this  was  only  a  detail  of  Ezra  Brass's 
success  in  the  business.  He  was  so  vigilantly 
scrupulous  in  the  selection  of  his  cargoes  with 
reference  to  the  laws  of  contraband,  that  the 
inspectors  always  "  passed  "  his  steamers  with 
out  the  sub  rosa  but  substantial  bribes  that  his 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

business  competitors  had  to  pay  every  time 
they  sent  a  laden  steamer  up  the  Southern 
rivers. 

Ezra  Brass  had  made  the  important  discovery 
that  while  every  Western  steamboat  ostenta 
tiously  carries  two  great  smoke-stacks,  not 
one  of  them  has  any  real  need  of  more  than 
one. 

That  discovery  meant  much  to  him.  A 
Western  steamboat's  smoke-stack  is  a  capacious 
funnel  six  feet  or  so  in  diameter,  and  sixty 
or  seventy  feet  high.  It  occurred  to  Ezra 
Brass  that  one  such  smoke-stack  might  be 
made  to  hold  what  he  called  "a  young  fortune" 
in  contraband  goods.  So  on  each  of  Ezra 
Brass's  steamboats  one  smoke-stack  was  care 
fully  cut  off  from  its  communication  with  the 
furnace  fires,  and  was  used  as  a  receptacle  for 
percussion  caps,  rifle  cartridges,  quinine,  mor 
phia,  and  other  goods  of  inestimable  value  to 
a  people  at  war  whose  access  to  foreign  mar 
kets  was  rigidly  blockaded. 

Brass  made  other  "  improvements "  in  the 
construction  of  his  steamboats.  He  put  a 

42 


BRASS 

4 

double  instead  of  a  single  boiler  iron  shield 
around  his  pilots.  The  space  between  was 
capable  of  holding  quinine  and  morphia  enough 
to  pay  the  total  cost  of  a  voyage. 

But  all  this  was  small  business  in  comparison 
with  the  other  things  that  Ezra  Brass  later  took 
in  hand.  After  the  war  had  reached  that  stage 
when  men  like  Ezra  Brass  might  enjoy  it  with 
calm  minds  free  from  apprehensions,  the  ulti 
mate  success  of  the  Federal  arms  was  assured, 
and  so  the  depreciated  currency  of  the  country 
was  bound  ultimately  to  be  good.  A  dollar 
could  be  had  at  that  time  for  sixty  cents  or 
less  of  value,  and  the  dollar  was  certain  to  be 
worth  a  hundred  cents  in  due  time.  In  the 
same  way  Ezra  Brass  could  buy  government 
bonds  bearing  a  high  rate  of  interest  at  a  low 
price,  knowing  perfectly  that  in  the  end  the 
government  bonds,  interest  and  principal,  would 
be  paid  off  at  a  dollar  for  a  dollar,  in  gold 
or  its  equivalent.  So  Ezra  Brass  had  invested 
largely  in  government  bonds. 

But  while  he  clearly  foresaw  that  ultimately 
the  war  must  end  in  the  restoration  of  the 

43 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

Union,  he  shared  with  many  of  the  other  specu 
lators  in  the  land  an  earnest  hope  that  it  might 
not  end  too  soon. 

He  said  something  like  this  to  Hugh  Marvin 
a  little  while  before  that  day  on  which  he 
came  on  board  the  steamboat  to  discuss  busi 
ness  affairs  with  his  subordinate,  and  got  him 
self  ordered  off. 

"They're  sending  Grant  to  the  East,"  he 
said,  "and  I'm  mighty  sorry  for  that." 

"  But  why  ? "  asked  Marvin.  "  Surely  there 
is  no  man  so  likely  to  bring  this  war  to  a 
speedy  end." 

"Of  course,  and  that's  just  it.  Lee's  army 
is  the  backbone  of  the  Rebel  strength,  and  I'm 
afraid  Grant'll  crush  that  in  a  hurry  when  he 
gets  to  work." 

"But  why  should  you  object  to  that?  Surely 
that  would  be  the  best  thing  that  could  happen 
for  the  country." 

"  Oh,  the  country  be  damned  !  I'm  thinkin' 
of  Ezra  Brass.  I'm  a-makin'  money  hand  over 
fist  out  o'  this  thing,  and  naturally  I  don't  want 
it  to  quit  just  yet.  I'd  think  you'd  feel  the 

44 


EZRA    BRASS 

same  way,  considering  your  own  profits  and  the 
price  I'm  paying  you." 

"  Oh,  never  mind  the  price  you're  paying  me. 
I  fixed  that  myself  and  I'm  going  to  double  it, 
just  as  soon  as  we  get  back  up  the  river.  You'll 
pay  me  whatever  price  I  choose  to  ask,  and  so 
I'm  under  no  obligations.  As  for  the  rest  of 
it,  every  dollar  you're  making  is  blood  money. 
The  war  would  have  ended  a  year  ago,  but  for 
such  greedy  cormorants  as  you.  You  and  your 
kind  are  keeping  it  up  for  the  sake  of  what 
there  is  in  it.  You're  murderers,  all  of  you, 
and  every  soldier  shot  on  either  side  is  your 
victim.  If  there  is  a  just  God  in  the  universe, 
and  if  he  keeps  a  Hell  anywhere,  he'll  reserve 
a  particularly  hot  corner  there  for  you  and  your 
kind ! " 

"  That  isn't  a  nice  way  for  you  to  talk  to  the 
man  who  pays  your  wages." 

"  All  the  same,  that's  the  way  I  am  talking 
to  you.  You're  a  cold-blooded,  unscrupulous 
scoundrel,  and  you  know  it.  Worse  still,  so 
far  as  you  are  concerned,  I  know  it.  Never 
mind  about  that.  You  pay  me  wages  only  be- 

45 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

cause  you  must,  and  you  pay  me  as  little  as  you 
can.  Now  let  me  tell  you  that  when  I  land  this 
cotton  at  Cairo,  you  will  have  to  look  out  for 
somebody  else  to  do  your  work,  and  you'll  not 
find  him  easily." 

"Now  you're  mighty  right  about  that,"  an 
swered  Ezra  Brass,  placatively.  "  I  realize  it. 
You're  a  master  hand  at  business,  and  especi 
ally  at  never  being  afraid  o'  nothin'.  There's 
a  good  deal  of  risk  in  this  sort  o'  business, 
and  I  must  say  you've  taken  your  share  of  it. 
But  we've  got  a  bigger  thing  on  or  just  a-comin', 
an'  I'm  a-goin'  to  let  you  in  on  the  ground  floor 
in  that." 

"  I  wish  you'd  go  over  to  one  of  the  other 
steamboats,"  said  Hugh  Marvin,  insistently. 
"  Your  presence  is  just  now  offensive  to  me. 
If  you  stay  on  this  boat,  you  and  I  will  quarrel 
to  a  certainty.  Go  away  somewhere,  and  don't 
let  me  see  you  till  we  land  at  Cairo.  Then 
maybe  I'll  talk  business  with  you.  If  you 
don't  go  away, — well,  it  will  be  much  better 
so." 

"  But  I  want  to  tell  you  about  this  new 
46 


EZRA    BRASS 

scheme.  It's  the  biggest  thing  on  ice,  and  I 
tell  you  I'm  going  to  let  you  in  on  the  ground 
floor." 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  hear  about  it.  Go 
away,  I  tell  you.  Go  to  another  steamboat. 
I  feel  like  washing  my  hands,  —  and  the  rest  of 
me."  Then,  as  Ezra  Brass  sat  still  with  no 
indication  of  a  purpose  to  move,  Hugh  Marvin 
turned  upon  him  in  uncontrollable  exasperation 
and  said  :  — 

"  If  you  don't  take  yourself  off  this  boat 
within  the  next  three  minutes,  I'll  choke  you 
to  death,  and  throw  you  to  the  alligators.  Go ! 
Go  now  !  Don't  wait  a  minute." 

What  else  the  young  man  said,  Ezra  Brass 
did  not  wait  to  hear.  He  had  concern  enough 
for  his  personal  safety  to  hurry  away.  But  as 
it  was  his  own  habit  never  to  let  a  disagree 
ment  of  any  kind  interfere  with  "business," 
he  ventured  back  upon  Hugh  Marvin's  boat 
a  few  days  later,  with  the  result  that  he  was 
again  peremptorily  ordered  away  as  we  have 
seen.  This  time  he  was  both  angry  and  puz 
zled —  angry  because  he  was  puzzled.  He 

47 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

could  not  at  all  understand  young  Marvin.  He 
had  no  belief  in  anybody's  integrity.  He  sup 
posed  it  to  be  only  a  mask  worn  for  purposes 
of  deception,  and  laid  aside  at  will  when  "  busi 
ness  "  was  to  be  done.  Yet  here  was  this  young 
fellow  Marvin  actually  affronting  him  on  two 
several  days,  after  being  informed  that  a  big 
scheme  was  on  foot,  in  which  it  was  his  pur 
pose  to  let  the  young  man  share  without  limit. 

Presently,  as  he  went  from  Marvin's  steam 
boat  to  another,  his  subtle  mind  wrought  out 
an  explanation  which  satisfied  its  curiosity. 

"I  see  how  it  is,"  he  muttered.  "He's  got 
some  glimmering  of  this  thing,  and  he's  gittin' 
ready  to  strike  for  big  riggers.  I've  offered 
him  the  ground  floor,  but  he  wants  the  cellar. 
I  reckon  I've  got  to  give  it  to  him.  Anyhow, 
the  whole  thing  '11  fall  through  if  he  backs  out. 
Curious  how  a  feller  as  smart  as  that  lets  his 
damned  fool  sentiments  git  in  the  way  of  his 
business  prospects." 


48 


V 


COMBS  AND  THAT   SORT  OF  THING 

YOUNG  Marvin's  conference  with  the 
captains  satisfied  him  that  all  the  cot 
ton  which  had  been  bought  in  that 
region  was  now  aboard  the  boats,  or  so  nearly 
all  of  it  that  a  longer  delay  in  order  to  secure 
such  stray  bales  as  had  not  been  found  would 
cost  more  than  it  would  come  to. 

Accordingly  he  ordered  all  the  boats  except 
his  own  to  proceed  up  the  river  as  far  as 
Memphis,  and  there  to  await  his  coming  or 
further  orders  from  him. 

As  for  his  own  boat,  he  had  reasons,  which 
he  did  not  choose  to  disclose,  for  holding  her 
at  anchor  where  she  was  until  such  time  as 
he  should  see  fit  to  steam  up  the  river. 

The  simple  fact  was  that  he  "  had  a  woman 
on  his  hands,"  and  he  did  not  know  what  to 

49 


do  with  her.  He  could  not  determine  that 
point  until  he  could  talk  at  leisure  with  the 
girl,  and  he  could  not  do  that  till  she  should 
wake  from  a  terribly  needed  slumber.  So  he 
kept  his  boat  at  anchor  there  in  the  river  and 
simply  waited. 

There  was  not  another  woman  on  board  the 
boat,  —  not  even  a  negro  chambermaid,  —  for 
this  boat  was  engaged  in  a  perilous  sort  of 
commerce,  and  not  at  all  in  the  carrying  of 
passengers. 

So  Hugh  Marvin  could  not  send  even  a  mes 
sage  to  the  girl  in  her  bomb-proof  chamber. 
He  had  never  occupied  that  chamber  because, 
whenever  there  was  danger  of  any  kind,  he 
made  it  his  business  to  be  on  the  hurricane- 
deck  where  his  duty  lay,  or  to  sleep  lightly 
in  a  "Texas"  stateroom  just  under  the  pilot 
house,  so  that  the  pilot  might  instantly  awaken 
him  by  the  clangor  of  a  gong  which  hung 
within  a  foot  of  his  head  as  he  lay  in  his 
bunk. 

Hugh  Marvin  had,  therefore,  never  made 
an  inspection  of  the  protected  chamber  in 

50 


COMBS   AND   THAT   SORT   OF  THING 

which  the  girl  slept.  It  occurred  to  him  now 
that  he  had  sent  her  thither  without  a  word 
of  inquiry  as  to  the  condition  of  the  chamber, 
—  that  he  did  not  know  whether  or  not  there 
were  combs  there,  or  brushes,  or  towels,  or 
even  a  pitcher  of  water  for  bathing  purposes. 

This  reflection  troubled  him  mightily,  the 
more  because  he  remembered  that  the  young 
woman's  hair  obviously  had  not  been  combed 
for  many  days  past.  Was  there  a  comb  in 
there  ?  He  could  not  remember.  Was  there 
a  brush  ?  He  knew  no  more  than  he  did 
about  the  furnishings  of  the  moon.  Was  there 
a  pitcher  or  a  pail  of  water  or  a  towel  or  a 
cake  of  soap  there  ?  Then  arose  the  horrifying 
question  :  were  there  any  sheets  on  the  berth- 
bed  ?  Or  had  he  sent  this  delicately  dainty 
creature  to  sleep  in  a  berth  last  occupied  per 
haps  by  a  man  who  slept  in  his  boots  and 
didn't  care  for  water  or  towels  ? 

The  thing  preyed  upon  his  mind  horribly. 
For  somehow  this  girl  had  appealed  to  all 
that  was  tender  and  sympathetic  in  the  young 
man's  nature  as  no  other  woman  had  appealed 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

to  that  side  of  him  since  as  a  boy  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  put  his  strong  arm  around  his 
little  mother's  waist  and  care  for  her  as  tenderly 
as  if  she  had  been  a  babe  in  arms. 

In  addition  there  was  something  about  Gabri- 
elle  Latour  that  fascinated  the  young  man. 
He  would  have  scouted  the  suggestion  that  he 
was  in  love  with  her.  He  had  met  her  less 
than  twenty-four  hours  before,  and  he  knew 
nothing  whatever  about  her.  The  thought  of 
love  was  therefore  out  of  the  question.  At 
least,  that  is  the  reply  that  Hugh  Marvin  would 
instantly  have  made  to  such  a  suggestion. 

But  all  that  was  chivalrous  in  him  was  en 
listed  in  her  behalf.  Everything  that  concerned 
her  welfare  or  comfort,  even  in  the  smallest  and 
most  insignificant  way,  seemed  to  him  a  thing 
of  supreme  moment. 

So  he  went  to  his  own  room  on  the  boat, 
and  collected  there  all  the  spare  combs  and 
brushes  he  could  find,  and  deposited  them  all 
at  the  door  of  the  girl's  stateroom,  together 
with  a  supply  of  towels,  two  or  three  cakes  of 
toilet  soap  in  their  original  wrappers,  a  nail- 
52 


COMBS   AND   THAT    SORT   OF   THING 

brush,  somewhat  the  worse  for  wear,  but  the 
best  he  had,  and  two  large  pails  of  water. 

He  would  not  wake  the  girl  to  tell  her  of  these 
arrangements  for  her  comfort,  and  as  he  had 
no  chambermaid  on  board  whom  he  could  send 
into  her  room,  he  simply  sat  down  just  outside 
the  door.  There  he  continued  to  sit,  hour  after 
hour,  awaiting  some  sound  from  within  which 
should  tell  him  that  the  girl  was  awake. 

His  vigil  continued  throughout  the  remaining 
hours  of  the  brief  spring  day,  but  when  it  grew 
dark  in  the  cabin  and  a  lamp  man  came  to  set 
the  lights  a-going,  Hugh  Marvin  signalled  him 
to  go  away.  He  feared  that  the  lighting  up  of 
the  cabin  might  cut  short  the  slumbers  of  the 
over-weary  young  woman,  and,  somehow,  he  was 
exceedingly  solicitous  that  nothing  to  her  detri 
ment  should  happen.  He  had  even  forbidden 
the  daily  washing  down  of  the  decks,  and  had 
enjoined  silence  all  over  the  boat  during  that 
day,  with  an  earnest  insistence  which  convinced 
the  more  imaginative  of  the  men  that  some 
special  danger  threatened. 

Finally,  as  Hugh  Marvin  sat  there  near  the 

53 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

girl's  door,  he  heard  a  stir  within  the  room. 
Instantly  he  called  to  a  servitor  to  bring  the 
hot  water  which  he  had  ordered  the  steward 
to  keep  in  readiness.  Then  he  rapped  gently 
at  the  door,  and  said  through  the  slats  of  the 
jalousie :  — 

"  I  fear  you  are  unprovided  with  necessaries 
of  the  toilet.  You  will  find  everything  that  I 
can  think  of  just  outside  your  door." 

There  came  through  the  slats  a  lot  of  mercis 
and  biens  and  beaucoups,  embedded  in  French 
sentences  of  which  Marvin  only  imperfectly 
made  out  the  significance.  He  hurried  away 
to  arrange  with  the  steward  for  the  prompt  ser 
vice  of  a  little  dinner  for  two. 


54 


VI 

AN  INTERRUPTED   INTERVIEW 

'T    I    ^HANK    you,    Mr.     Marvin,  for  the 

means  of  making  my  toilet." 
-*~  That  was  the  first  thing  Gabrielle 

said  when  she  came  out  of  her  room  and  the 
two  sat  down  to  dinner  in  the  cabin.  "The 
bath  was  very  refreshing,  and  it  is  a  relief  to 
have  my  hair  combed  again." 

Marvin  observed  that  the  girl  was  even  more 
beautiful  than  she  had  been  before,  and  yet  he 
was  rather  disposed  to  regret  the  loss  of  her 
Meg  Merrilies  appearance  through  the  "doing 
up"  of  her  hair. 

"  I  hope  you  have  slept  well,"  he  said. 

"  I  have  slept,"  she  answered,  but  she  did  not 
add  "well."  And  Marvin  observed  that  she 
was  still  excessively  nervous,  and  that  the  look 
of  anxiety  in  her  countenance  had  not  been 

55 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

altogether  effaced  by  that  other  look  of  resolute 
self-control  which  she  had  put  on. 

With  the  instinctive  impulse  of  masculine 
humanity,  he  hoped  that  dinner  might  "do  her 
good."  A  man  always  thinks  better  of  the 
efficacy  of  feeding  than  any  woman  does. 
Then  in  his  eagerness  to  render  her  the  service 
of  soothing  that  was  obviously  her  first  neces 
sity,  it  occurred  to  him  that  perhaps  she  needed 
stimulation.  He  didn't  know  much  about  stimu 
lants,  as  it  had  never  been  his  practice  to 
drink  anything  that  had  alcohol  in  it,  but  he 
had  so  often  seen  people  in  a  faint  condition 
dosed  with  wine  that  he  supposed  that  was  the 
proper  thing  in  such  cases. 

He  knew  that  there  was  no  wine  of  any  sort 
on  board,  but  among  the  emergency  medical 
stores  carried  by  the  boat  there  was  some 
whiskey  —  of  what  kind  or  quality  he  knew 
not.  So  before  sitting  down  to  dinner  with 
the  girl  as  his  guest,  he  ordered  some  of  the 
whiskey  brought,  and  when  it  came,  he  pressed 
it  upon  his  companion,  saying,  "You  are  very 
faint."  That  was  the  formula  he  had  heard 
56 


AN   INTERRUPTED   INTERVIEW 

used  by  way  of  persuading  women  to  take 
wine. 

A  queer  little  smile  rippled  over  the  girl's 
face  as  she  replied  :  — 

"  I  fancy  I  should  soon  be  a  good  deal  worse 
than  very  faint  if  I  were  to  drink  spirits.  I 
don't  know ;  I  never  tried  it.  But  anyhow  I  do 
not  want  anything  of  that  kind.  The  soup  is 
hot,  and  that  will  answer  all  my  needs." 

"The  soup  is  horrible!"  he  exclaimed  after 
tasting  it.  "  It  is  made  of  corned  beef  or  salt 
horse  or  something  else  equally  unfit.  Don't 
drink  it,  I  pray  you.  Here  is  coffee.  Take 
that  instead." 

The  girl  seemed  glad  enough  to  be  thus 
excused  from  swallowing  more  than  a  first 
spoonful  of  the  soup  which  Marvin  had  cor 
rectly  characterized  as  horrible.  And  —  per 
haps  in  timid  anticipation  of  like  characteristics 
in  the  viands  yet  to  come  —  she  made  haste  to 
say:  — 

"I  think  I  have  no  appetite,  Mr.  Marvin. 
Perhaps  the  steward  could  give  me  a  bit  of 
toast.  If  not,  it  is  no  matter." 

57 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

"  Excuse  me  for  a  few  minutes,"  the  young 
man  replied,  hastily  arising  and  walking  away 
toward  the  steward's  precincts. 

"What  have  you  here,"  he  asked  impera 
tively,  "  fit  for  a  lady  who  is  ill,  to  eat  ? 
Have  the  cook  make  her  some  toast  at  once, 
and  don't  let  him  scorch  it.  Have  you  any 
eggs  ? " 

"  None  but  limed  ones,"  the  steward  an 
swered. 

But  Hugh  Marvin  had  not  waited  for  the 
steward  to  report  upon  his  supplies.  Resort 
ing  to  the  high  hand  as  was  his  practice  upon 
proper  occasion,  he  flung  open  the  doors  of  the 
refrigerators  and  other  storage  places  and  made 
search  upon  his  own  account. 

"  Here  are  some  fresh  guinea  eggs,"  he  pres 
ently  called  out.  "  Let  the  cook  poach  two  of 
them  very  lightly  and  put  them  on  the  toast. 
Save  the  rest  for  the  young  lady's  use  later. 
And  what's  this?"  As  he  asked  the  question 
he  drew  from  its  hiding-place  behind  a  block 
of  ice  a  young  chicken  dressed  and  ready 
for  broiling. 

58 


AN   INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  me  of  this?  Where 
did  you  get  it  ?  No,  don't  answer.  You  or 
somebody  else  stole  it,  I  suppose,  but  it's  too 
late  now  to  restore  it  to  its  owner.  Have  it 
broiled  at  once  and  serve  it  to  the  young  lady. 
And  tell  the  cook  that  if  he  scorches  it,  or 
serves  it  underdone,  I'll  throw  him  and  you 
overboard.  I'll  do  it,  too.  You  understand 
that  ? " 

Then  suppressing  the  outward  manifestations 
of  his  wrath  he  returned  to  the  table  and  very 
gently  asked  the  young  woman  to  wait  a  little 
while,  assuring  her  that  something  fit  to  eat 
was  coming  presently. 

The  little  time  of  enforced  waiting  served  a 
good  purpose,  though  its  necessity  annoyed 
Hugh  Marvin  not  a  little.  It  had  been  his 
purpose  to  occupy  the  girl's  mind  with  dining 
and  thus  prevent  any  lapse  of  the  conversation 
into  matters  personal  until  such  time  as  she 
might  be  sufficiently  refreshed  to  endure.  But 
this  necessity  of  waiting  spoiled  that  plan  and 
purpose  completely.  Two  persons  almost  com 
pletely  strangers  and  meeting  under  unusual 

59 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

circumstances  simply  cannot  sit  at  table  wait 
ing  for  their  dinner  to  be  served,  without  fall 
ing  into  conversation  concerning  themselves 
and  their  circumstances. 

So  it  fell  out  in  this  case. 

"You  have  sent  all  the  other  boats  up  the 
river,"  the  girl  said.  "I  heard  you  give  the 
order.  Why  did  you  do  that  ?  " 

"Well,  they  are  very  slow,  you  know,  and 
they  have  valuable  cargoes,  and  it  isn't  as  safe 
here  as  it  is  at  Memphis." 

"  Then  this  boat  is  faster  than  the  others  ? 
Or  safer  for  some  reason  ? " 

"No,  not  that;  but  you  see  I  feel  a  certain 
responsibility.  I  am  staying  here  with  this 
boat  because  I  want  to  restore  you  to  your 
friends  before  going  up  the  river.  If  you'll 
tell  me  where  to  find  them,  I'll  - 

"  I  have  no  friends,  Mr.  Marvin,"  the  girl  in 
terrupted,  with  a  drawn  look  on  her  face,  and 
with  lips  set  and  almost  livid. 

"  But  surely  there  must  be  some  one  some 
where  —  " 

"  No,  there  is  not.  I  tell  you  I  am  alone  in 
60 


AN   INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

the  world.  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  when  — 
when  I  feel  strong  enough." 

Fortunately  the  eggs  and  toast  arrived  at 
this  moment  and  the  chicken  soon  followed. 
Marvin,  seeing  foreshadowings  of  a  breakdown, 
welcomed  the  interruption,  saying  :  — 

"We'll  talk  over  all  that  matter  at  another 
time.  At  present  we'll  discuss  the  chicken  and 
nothing  else,  or  at  least  nothing  more  serious. 
I'm  not  sure  that  the  chicken  isn't  serious.  I 
found  it  hidden  away  in  a  refrigerator.  It  was 
never  meant  by  the  steward  for  our  eating.  I 
suspect  that  the  steward  or  some  of  his  people 
stole  it.  But  as  I  am  powerless  to  restore  it  to 
its  owner,  I  have  confiscated  it.  Were  the  eggs 
cooked  to  your  taste  ? " 

In  that  way  he  rattled  on  till  the  supper  was 
done,  taking  care  to  talk  so  continuously  of 
indifferent  things  as  to  excuse  the  young 
woman  from  talking  at  all,  except  by  way  of 
saying  "yes"  or  "no"  now  and  then. 

Her  shrewd  womanly  intelligence  penetrated 
his  purpose  from  the  beginning,  and  her  appre 
ciation  of  the  tactful  tenderness  he  was  mani- 
61 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

festing  toward  her  touched  her  well-nigh  to 
tears,  till  at  last  she  broke  out :  — 

"  You  are  very  good  and  kind  and  generous 
to  me,  and  it  is  only  a  foolish  weakness  on  my 
part  that  calls  for  it.  You  want  to  proceed  up 
the  river  with  your  steamboat.  Will  you  not 
give  the  order  without  further  delay  ?  I  ear 
nestly  beg  that  you  will.  Then  I  will  tell  you 
all  there  is  to  tell.  Now  that  it  has  cleared 
away  there  ought  to  be  a  fine  moon.  Can 
we  not  sit  outside  somewhere  while  I  tell  you 
what  you  must  hear  ? " 

Nothing  could  better  have  suited  Hugh 
Marvin's  wish.  This  young  woman's  eyes 
somehow  fascinated  him,  so  that  if  he  looked 
into  them  or  even  glanced  at  them  while  she 
was  talking,  he  was  sure  to  lose  the  meaning 
of  at  least  half  she  said.  He  felt  that  if  they 
two  could  sit  out  upon  the  "guards,"  —  as  the 
promenade  deck  of  a  Western  steamer  is  called, 
—  where  there  was  no  light  but  that  of  the 
moon,  he  could  better  attend  to  whatever  it 
was  that  she  might  have  to  say,  than  if  she 
faced  him  in  full  light  looking  at  him  with 
62 


AN    INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

those  wonderful  eyes,  and  letting  him  see  the 
still  more  wonderful  play  of  expression  upon 
her  strangely  mobile  features. 

Accordingly  he  bade  a  steward  set  some 
chairs  upon  the  forecastle  guard,  and  provide 
some  wraps  for  the  lady. 

"I'm  afraid,"  he  said  hesitatingly,  "that 
you'll  have  to  put  up  with  a  blanket  or  a  bed- 
quilt,  as  I  haven't  any  sort  of  feminine  wraps 
on  board.  But  there  is  nobody  to  see  or  to 
criticise,  and  though  the  night  is  soft  you  might 
be  chilled,  sitting  out  there  with  the  boat  in 
motion." 

Again  the  tender  thoughtfulness  of  his 
consideration  for  her  touched  the  girl,  and  as 
she  turned  away  for  some  purely  pretended  pur 
pose,  a  tear  or  two  of  a  not  unhappy  sort 
trickled  down  her  cheeks. 

Meanwhile  Marvin  went  to  give  orders  for 
the  getting  of  the  boat  under  way.  He 
directed  that  the  timber  rafts  which  had  pro 
tected  her  hull  in  her  wanderings  up  and  down 
the  sluggish  creeks  and  bayous  should  be  cast 
off.  With  them  in  tow  the  underpowered  and 

63 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

heavily  laden  boat  could  have  made  no  headway 
at  all  upstream  in  the  more  rapid  reaches  of 
the  river. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  boat  was  steaming 
slowly  up  the  stream,  and  the  young  man  and 
young  woman  seated  themselves  comfortably 
on  the  forward  guards.  There  was  indeed  a 
fine  moon  which  shone  through  a  fleecy  white 
mist  that  softened  without  obscuring  the 
light.  But  the  course  of  the  Mississippi  is 
a  tortuous  one,  so  that  sometimes  the  moon 
light  fell  into  the  faces  of  these  two,  while 
sometimes  it  did  not  fall  upon  them  at  all. 

"  It  was  weak  and  foolish  in  me,"  the  girl 
began,  "  not  to  be  able  to  talk  with  you  before. 
But  I  have  gone  through  so  much  of  late,  and 
the  future  is  so  completely  a  blank  wall  before 
my  eyes,  that  I  feel  shaken  up,  and  — " 

"  Now  pray,  my  dear  young  lady,"  the  young 
man  answered,  interrupting,  "  I  beg  that  you 
will  think  no  more  of  that.  I  think  you  have 
been  wonderfully  brave.  Most  women  would 
have  been  helplessly  ill  or  even  delirious  after 
such  experiences  as  those  that  you  have  gone 
64 


AN    INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

through.  Now  let  us  understand  each  other. 
I  feel  as  tenderly  toward  you  as  a  brother 
might.  I  don't  want  you  to  tell  me  anything 
that  it  distresses  you  to  tell.  I  have  no  idly 
curious  desire  to  pry  into  your  affairs  or  your 
life.  I  only  want  you  to  tell  me  so  much  as 
may  help  me  to  help  you.  You  say  you  have  no 
friends  to  whom  I  can  take  you  or  send  you  ? " 

"  No,  I  have  no  friends  anywhere  on  earth  — 
except  you.  You  have  shown  yourself  so  good 
a  friend  that  I  simply  must  tell  you  all  about 
myself.  It  would  be  disloyal  to  friendship 
itself  for  me  to  do  less  than  that.  Much  of  the 
story  is  painful,  —  a  part  of  it  horrible,  —  but 
I  must  tell  it  all  to  you,  and  I  will  be  strong 
to  do  so." 

At  that  moment  there  came  an  explosion  on 
the  deck  below.  What  had  happened  Hugh 
Marvin  did  not  know,  but  what  to  do  he  did 
know,  and  he  did  it  quickly.  He  grasped  the 
slender  girl  by  the  waist,  mounted  to  the  taff- 
rail,  leaped  to  the  deck  below  —  ten  feet  or  so — 
and  hurriedly  carried  his  human  burden  to  the 
very  bow  of  the  boat,  where  he  laid  her  upon 

65 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

the  deck,  under  protection  of  a  rank  of  cotton 
bales. 

"  Lie  there  !  "  he  commanded.  "  Don't  rise 
even  to  a  sitting  posture  or  a  waft  of  the  wind 
may  blow  scalding  steam  upon  you.  Hot  steam 
rises,  you  know.  Lie  still,  while  I  go  to  find  out 
what  has  happened." 

Instantly  he  left  her,  giving  her  no  time  to 
remonstrate  against  his  deliberate  going  into 
the  danger  from  which  he  was  so  solicitously 
trying  to  protect  her. 

Paying  no  heed  to  his  instructions,  she  at 
once  arose  and  followed  him  through  the 
blinding  cloud  of  vapor  that  enveloped  the 
boat.  She  saw  him  only  by  glimpses  through 
the  fog-like  steam.  But  she  managed  to  follow 
him  as  he  made  his  explorations. 

Hugh  Marvin  knew  pretty  nearly  all  there  is 
to  know  about  a  steamboat.  He  saw  at  once 
that  the  boilers  had  not  exploded.  If  that 
had  occurred,  the  upper  decks  would  have  been 
reduced  to  kindling  wood,  and  the  boat  would 
have  been  afire.  He  saw  that  the  accident  had 
not  been  the  blowing  out  of  a  cylinder  head, 
66 


AN    INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

for  in  that  case  the  outflow  of  steam  would 
have  been  cut  off  almost  instantly  by  the  auto 
matic  action  of  the  machinery. 

He  quickly  made  out,  therefore,  that  the 
steampipe  supplying  steam  to  the  engines  had 
burst,  and  he  knew  what  to  do. 

"Set  all  the  escape  valves  wide  open,"  he 
ordered,  "even  the  mud  valves,  to  let  off  the 
steam." 

Then  turning  to  the  stokers  he  commanded  :  — 

"  Rake  out  the  fires  quick." 

These  measures  ended  the  danger  by  end 
ing  the  supply  of  scalding  steam  that  was 
escaping  from  the  broken  pipe.  But  in  the 
meanwhile  two  poor  fellows  had  been  terribly 
burned,  and  were  writhing  in  agony  upon  the 
deck. 

Then  Gabrielle  Latour  gave  to  Hugh  Marvin 
a  new  revelation  of  her  nature  and  of  her  capac 
ity  of  helpfulness. 

She  called  to  a  deck-hand:  — 

"  Bring  a  torch  at  once  —  two  of  them  or 
more  if  you  have  them  ! " 

Instantly  the    men   brought   great   swinging 

67 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

baskets  fastened  to  iron  rods  and  filled  with 
flaming  fagots  of  fat  pine.  They  placed  the 
torches  in  their  usual  sockets,  so  that  they 
might  overhang  the  guards  and  let  their 
droppings  of  flaming  resin  fall  into  the  water. 
But  in  this  position  the  torches  threw  less  of 
light  upon  the  bodies  of  the  scalded  men  than 
the  girl  wanted  there,  so  she  commanded  the 
men  :  — 

"  Bring  the  torches  over  here  and  place  them 
so  that  they  will  give  me  light." 

"  But  the  drippings  will  set  the  boat  afire, 
Miss,"  answered  one  of  the  men. 

"  There  is  plenty  of  water  in  the  river,"  she 
replied.  "  Let  some  men  stand  by  with  buckets 
to  put  out  any  fire  that  may  start." 

During  this  time  Marvin  was  absent  bring 
ing  the  boat  to  anchor.  When  he  returned, 
Gabrielle  said  to  him  :  — 

"  Please  direct  the  men  as  to  the  lights,  and 
please  send  word  to  the  steward  to  bring  me 
all  the  cooking  soda  he  has.  These  poor  fel 
lows  are  terribly  burned." 

Then  she  asked  for  a  pocket-knife  with  which 
68 


AN    INTERRUPTED    INTERVIEW 

to  cut  away  their  clothing.  The  knife  proved 
to  be  dull,  and  after  an  effort  to  use  it,  she 
threw  it  aside.  Then,  thrusting  her  hand  into 
her  bodice,  she  brought  out  a  long,  slender 
Siamese  creese  —  a  knife  sharply  pointed  for 
purposes  of  killing,  and  with  waved  edges  ground 
down  to  the  keenness  of  a  razor. 

With  this  she  quickly  bared  the  breasts  and 
shoulders  of  the  scalded  men,  and  the  soda 
having  come,  she  sprinkled  it  over  their 
wounds,  giving  them  almost  immediate  relief. 

Then  she  called  for  such  surgical  dressings 
as  there  were  on  board,  and  saturating  them  in 
a  solution  of  the  soda,  she  carefully  and  tenderly 
dressed  the  wounds.  Finally  she  covered  the 
dressings  with  strips  torn  from  sheets  that  she 
had  asked  to  have  brought  to  her. 

Then  rising  from  her  knees,  and  paying  no 
heed  to  the  thanks  of  the  men  whose  sufferings 
she  had  so  mightily  and  so  quickly  relieved  by 
her  simple  appliances,  she  turned  to  Hugh 
Marvin  and  said  :  — 

"  Please  have  these  poor  fellows  put  to  bed 
at  once  as  comfortably  as  you  can.  In  the 
69 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

morning  we  can  know  whether  their  wounds 
are  deep  and  dangerous  or  only  superficial 
and  painful." 

As  she  stood  there  in  the  flare  of  the  torches, 
with  a  light  of  human  helpfulness  in  her  coun 
tenance,  Hugh  Marvin  thought  that  no  other 
vision  so  beautiful  had  ever  been  his  to  con 
template.  A  moment  later  she  said  to  him,  as 
the  scalded  men  were  borne  away  to  their 
bunks : — 

"I  think  I  will  go  to  bed  now.  You  have 
much  to  do  in  getting  the  boat  repaired,  and  / 
am  very  tired." 

There  was  a  note  in  the  last  four  words  that 
touched  the  young  man  tenderly. 

"Yes,  go  to  bed,"  he  answered,  "and  may 
all  good  dreams  go  with  you.  Do  you  know," 
he  added  impulsively,  "you  seem  to  me  a 
wonderful  woman  and  a  wonderfully  good  one  ?  " 
Then  without  giving  her  time  for  answer  he 
added  :  — 

"  Good  night.     I  must  look  after  the  boat." 


70 


VII 

THE   MYSTERY  OF   GABRIELLE 

MARVIN'S  first  care,  after  Gabrielle 
Latour  had  retreated  to  her  room, 
was  to  set  the  engineers  at  work 
repairing  the  vent  in  the  steam  supply  pipe. 
The  metal  was  not  yet  sufficiently  cooled  to  be 
handled,  but  Marvin,  who  had  a  good  deal  of 
what  is  called  "  executive  ability,"  pointed  out 
and  insisted  upon  the  possibility  of  getting 
sheets  of  copper  and  rivets  and  all  other  neces 
sary  things  in  readiness  with  the  copper  plates 
cut  to  fit,  without  waiting  as  the  mechanics 
were  disposed  to  do  for  the  pipe  to  cool.  In 
that  way  he  saved  a  good  deal  of  time  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  of  repair. 

Then  he  thought  of  another  thing,  and  as  he 
was  leaving  the  lower  deck  to  attend  to  it,  his 
foot  struck  something,  and  he  stooped  and  picked 

71 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

it  up.  It  was  the  Siamese  creese  which  the 
girl,  in  her  intentness  of  merciful  purpose,  had 
left  there  upon  the  deck.  He  thrust  it  into  his 
pocket,  all  scabbardless  as  it  was,  and  went  to 
carry  out  his  original  purpose,  which  was  to 
send  the  steward  ashore  with  a  crew  of  men 
to  find  and  buy  such  provisions  as  he  could,  of 
a  kind  that  the  woman  passenger  could  eat  on 
the  northward  voyage. 

The  steward  hesitated,  protesting  that  he 
didn't  know  what  might  happen  to  him  on  shore 
if  he  should  venture  thither. 

"  You  coward !  I'll  go  myself,"  the  young 
man  answered  in  disgust. 

Then,  without  waiting  for  anything  the 
steward  might  desire  to  say  in  reply,  Marvin 
went  to  the  lower  deck,  summoned  a  boat's 
crew,  lowered  a  yawl,  and  went  ashore. 

It  was  nearly  sunrise  when  he  returned  to  the 
steamboat,  but  when  he  did  so,  he  had  a  supply 
of  eggs  and  chickens,  a  freshly  dressed  spring 
lamb,  a  jar  filled  with  cream,  a  demijohn  of  new 
milk,  and  some  other  things  of  an  equally 
acceptable  kind. 

72 


THE    MYSTERY    OF   GABRIELLE 

Such  supplies  were  exceedingly  scarce  in  that 
region  at  that  time,  but  Hugh  Marvin  had 
armed  himself,  before  going  ashore,  with  search 
warrants  of  the  most  effective  and  searching 
kind  —  namely  a  number  of  United  States  gold 
coins.  With  the  aid  of  these  he  had  secured 
what  he  desired  in  the  way  of  supplies. 

He  was  happy  now  in  the  thought  that  the 
young  woman  who  had  been  so  strangely  thrust 
on  his  hands  would  have  proper  food  to  eat  dur 
ing  the  voyage  to  Cairo,  which  must  occupy 
many  days  and  nights,  for  the  reason  that  the 
steamboat  could  not  make  an  upstream  speed 
of  more  than  three  or  four  miles  an  hour. 
Somehow  his  concern  for  that  young  person's 
comfort  seemed  to  grow  with  every  hour. 

The  thought  of  her  was  at  no  moment  ab 
sent  from  his  mind. 

"  I  wonder  who  she  is,"  he  meditated,  after 
he  had  inspected  the  progress  of  the  repair 
work,  "and  where  she  came  from,  and  how 
she  came  to  be  there  in  the  canebrake,  starv 
ing  and  suffering.  One  thing  is  clear :  she  is 
a  woman  of  high  breeding,  culture,  refinement, 

73 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

and  character.  How  it  comes  about  that  she 
has  no  relatives  or  friends  I  cannot  imagine. 
Another  thing  is  certain  :  she  has  suffered  ter 
ribly.  She  has  gone  through  experiences  that 
would  have  wrecked  the  intellect  of  any  ordinary 
woman.  But  she  is  not  an  ordinary  woman. 
She  is  altogether  extraordinary,  and  the  love 
liest  woman  I  ever  saw." 

And  yet  if  anybody  had  been  there  to  sug 
gest  to  Hugh  Marvin  that  he  had  fallen  in  love 
with  Gabrielle  Latour,  he  would  have  laughed 
the  thought  to  scorn. 

Just  at  that  moment  some  movement  of  his 
body  caused  the  unsheathed  creese  to  prick 
him  sharply  in  the  side.  Its  needle-like  point, 
aided  by  its  razor-like  edges,  had  pierced  his 
pocket  and  let  the  knife  slip  down  to  a  place 
where  it  came  into  contact  with  his  flesh. 

Hastily  drawing  the  knife  out  of  the  pocket, 
he  curiously  inspected  it.  It  was  a  piece  of 
exquisite  oriental  workmanship.  The  handle 
was  of  silver  inwrought  with  gold,  set  with 
high-colored  stones,  and  wrought  into  a  dragon's 
head,  to  which  diamonds  supplied  the  eyes. 

74 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    GABRIELLE 

The  blade,  about  four  inches  long,  was  in  wave- 
like  form,  its  curves  tapering  to  a  point  needle- 
like  in  its  fineness,  while  the  edges  were 
ground  to  exquisite  sharpness.  It  was  the 
ideal  knife  of  the  assassin  who  plans  to  make 
quick  and  sure  work  of  his  death-stroke.  The 
knife  looked  something  like  this:  — 


Along  the  wavelike  course  of  the  blade 
there  was  a  delicate  tracery  of  incised  orna 
mentations,  designed  apparently  to  give  artistic 
effect  to  assassination. 

"  And  she  has  been  carrying  that  in  her  cor 
sage,"  Hugh  Marvin  muttered  to  himself.  "  I 
wonder  why.  She  has  enough  hot  blood  in  her 
veins  to  be  an  assassin  if  she  were  a  person 
of  evil  mind.  But  she  is  not.  She  is  gentle, 
kindly,  merciful,  and  I  imagine  that  the  only 
use  she  ever  made  of  that  ingeniously  cruel 

75 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

knife  was  the  considerate  one  of  getting  at 
those  poor  fellows'  wounds  last  night  in  order 
to  dress  them.  And  she  did  that  with  all  the 
confidence  of  a  surgeon's  skill.  I  wonder  where 
she  learned  it  all.  I  wonder  who  she  is,  any 
how.  She  has  told  me  her  name,  —  Gabrielle 
Latour,  —  but  that  does  not  enlighten  me  in 
the  least.  Young  as  she  is,  she  has  had  a  his 
tory.  I  wonder  if  she  will  care  to  tell  me  what 
it  is.  Of  course  I  could  never  ask." 

Then  after  a  moment  he  said  to  himself:  — 
"  It  makes  no  difference  ;  she  is  very  cer 
tainly  a  highly  bred  and  highly  self-respecting 
woman.  She  has  good  blood  in  her  veins,  and 
she  has  never  done  anything  unworthy  of  it. 
But  I  wonder  when  and  how  she  learned  to  dress 
burns  with  cooking  soda.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
heard  of  that  before,  but  it  is  certainly  effective. 
The  groans  of  pain  ceased  almost  at  the  mo 
ment  when  she  put  the  dressings  on.  I'd  give 
a  good  many  bales  of  cotton  to  know  the  whole 
story  of  that  girl's  life." 

At   that   moment   the   girl    herself    emerged 
from  the  cabin  and  joined  him  upon  the  deck. 
76 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    GABRIELLE 

"Oh,  you  have  saved  my  creese,"  she  ex 
claimed  in  evident  satisfaction.  "  Thank  you 
more  than  I  can  say.  I  feared  I  had  lost  it." 

"  Yes,  I  found  it  upon  the  deck  below,  and 
cared  for  it.  It  is  an  exquisite  piece  of  work 
manship." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  she  replied  with  a  far-away 
look  in  her  eyes.  "  I  never  thought  of  it  in  that 
way." 

This  reply  left  the  young  man  wondering 
more  curiously  than  ever.  He  had  half  satis 
fied  himself  that  the  extraordinary  knife  had 
been  cherished  by  her  because  of  the  beauty 
of  its  workmanship.  That  was  the  only  rea 
son  he  could  imagine  for  her  carrying  it  upon 
her  person.  Yet  now  she  said,  "  I  never 
thought  of  it  in  that  way,"  and  he  was  left 
wondering  anew. 

But  the  girl  gave  him  little  time  for  won 
dering. 

"  I  want  to  see  the  scalded  men  as  soon  as  I 
can,"  she  said.  "Please  take  me  to  them." 

"Certainly,"  he  answered;  "but  it  is  just 
sunrise.  You  must  be  an  early  riser." 

77 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  I  always  get  up  as  soon 
as  it  is  daylight.  I  must  look  after  these  poor 
wounded  men.  I  have  only  waited  for  sunrise 
so  that  there  might  be  light  enough." 

"Then  you  have  been  long  awake?"  he 
answered. 

"  I  have  not  slept  at  all.  How  could  I,  when 
I  could  not  know  till  morning  about  the  burns 
—  whether  they  were  fatal  or  not  ?  You  see 
all  I  could  do  last  night  was  to  alleviate  pain. 
There  may  be  something  more  important  to  do 
now.  Come,  we  are  wasting  time." 

Again  the  young  man  was  set  wondering  as 
he  conducted  the  girl  to  the  place  where  the 
wounded  men  lay.  And  his  wondering  was 
increased  when  he  observed  the  confident  and 
skilful  way  in  which  she  removed  the  dress 
ings  and  minutely  examined  the  wounded 
parts. 

After  intently  inspecting  the  wounds  of  one  of 
the  men,  the  girl  looked  up  quickly  and  asked :  — 

"  Is  there  a  case  of  surgical  instruments  on 
board  ? " 

Marvin    answered    in   the   negative,    adding, 

78 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    GABRIELLE 

"  But  if  you'll  tell  me  what  you  want,  per 
haps  I  can  get  you  a  substitute." 

"  I  want  a  pair  of  forceps,  though  perhaps  a 
large  pair  of  tweezers  might  do.  You  see  the 
men  are  not  deeply  burned  —  or  at  least  not 
very  deeply.  But  this  one  has  had  a  great 
many  fragments  of  metal  —  copper  it  seems  to 
be  —  driven  into  his  flesh.  That  is  dangerous. 
I  want  some  instrument  with  which  to  remove 
them." 

"  I'll  see  what  I  can  find,"  answered  Marvin, 
hurrying  away.  Presently  he  returned,  bring 
ing  everything  in  the  way  of  pincers  that  the 
machinists  could  supply.  The  girl  hurriedly 
looked  over  the  implements,  and  found  one  of 
them  with  which  she  succeeded  in  removing 
the  larger  pieces  of  copper  from  the  man's 
flesh.  But  for  the  removal  of  the  smaller 
pieces,  equally  important,  the  forceps  proved 
to  be  useless.  After  puzzling  for  a  moment 
the  girl  turned  her  great,  soft  eyes  upon  Mar 
vin,  so  that  he  almost  quivered  under  the 
intense  gaze,  and  said  :  — 

"This   man's  life  is  at  stake.     I  must  have 

79 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

the  implement  I  need  to  save  him.  You  have 
a  blacksmith's  forge  on  board.  Let  me  use  it, 
and  I  think  I  can  make  the  instrument  my 
self." 

With  that  she  arose,  carefully  drew  the  bed 
clothes  over  the  suffering  man,  enjoining  those 
in  attendance  to  prevent  his  taking  cold,  and 
in  company  with  the  wondering  Hugh  Marvin, 
hurriedly  made  her  way  to  the  lower  deck, 
where  the  portable  blacksmith's  forge  stood. 

Slender,  fragile-looking  creature  that  she 
was,  with  dainty  fingers  that  expressed  intense 
nervousness  in  every  motion,  it  seemed  to 
Hugh  Marvin  little  short  of  a  miracle  when 
she  set  to  work  to  examine  such  supplies  of 
steel  as  the  blacksmith  had  on  hand,  and 
selecting  a  piece  that  might  answer  her  pur 
pose,  thrust  it  into  the  furnace,  bidding  the 
blacksmith's  helper  blow  his  bellows. 

It  seemed  still  more  wonderful  when,  after 
turning  the  piece  of  steel  two  or  three  times 
in  the  fire,  she  drew  it  forth  and  proceeded  to 
hammer  it  into  the  shape  she  desired.  Then 
she  cut  off  about  seven  inches  of  the  thinly 
80 


AVlTII    A    DEXTKRITV    THAT    ASTONISHED    THK    BLACKSMITH    WKM.- 
NIGII    OUT    OF    HIS    \VITS. 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    GABRIELLE 

flattened  end  of  the  little  bar.  This  she  heated 
again  to  whiteness,  and  with  a  dexterity  that 
astonished  the  blacksmith  well-nigh  out  of  his 
wits,  bent  it  into  the  form  of  a  pair  of  tweezers. 

After  thrusting  it  into  the  water-tub  by  way 
of  cooling  it,  she  handed  it  to  the  smith,  say 
ing:— 

"  My  hands  are  very  tired,  will  you  please 
file  the  edges  of  the  biting  part  ?  You  know 
how  it  should  be  done  ?  slantwise,  so  that  it 
may  hold  whatever  it  grasps." 

When  the  implement  was  finished,  the  young 
woman  returned  to  the  wounded  man,  and  with 
a  dexterity  that  seemed  admirable  in  the  eyes  of 
Hugh  Marvin,  extracted  the  minute  fragments 
of  copper  that  had  been  driven  into  his  flesh  by 
the  explosion  of  the  steam-pipe. 

"The  man  will  get  well  now,"  she  said  con 
fidently,  as  Marvin  led  her  away  to  breakfast, 
wondering,  wondering,  wondering. 


81 


VIII 

THE   STORY   OF   GABRIELLE 

AT  breakfast  Marvin  did  not  invite  any 
confidences.      He  wanted   to    have    a 
free    and    uninterrupted   conversation 
with  the  girl.     He  wanted  her  to  tell  her  own 
story  in  her  own  way,  and  there  was  not  time 
for  that  at  breakfast,  nor  would  there  be  oppor 
tunity  for  it  until  the  steamboat  could  be  got 
under  way  again.     Moreover,  neither  he  nor  she 
had  slept  the  night  before. 

Accordingly  during  breakfast  he  held  the 
conversation  to  simple  topics,  a  task  in  which 
the  young  woman  aided  him  by  inquiring 
curiously  concerning  the  source  of  the  fresh 
supplies,  and  especially  the  rich  cream  he  gave 
her  for  her  coffee. 

After  he  had  told  her  of  his  journey  ashore 
by  night,  she  said :  — 

82 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

"  You  are  certainly  very  good  to  me.  But 
you  have  lost  a  night's  sleep.  Can  you  not  take 
time  to-day  to  make  it  up  ? " 

"  So  have  you,"  he  answered,  "  and  you  must 
make  it  up.  Let  us  make  a  pact.  After  break 
fast  I  have  the  repairs  in  the  steam-pipe  to 
look  after.  I  am  very  anxious  to  get  the  boat 
under  way.  I  think  I  can  do  so  by  noon. 
Then  I  will  take  a  few  hours'  sleep.  In  the 
meanwhile  you,  too,  are  to  sleep  all  you  can. 
We  will  meet  at  supper  this  evening,  and  after 
supper  we'll  go  out  upon  the  forward  guards 
and  resume  our  talk." 

With  that  he  excused  himself  and  went  to 
the  lower  deck. 

When  the  two  met  again  at  supper,  the  girl 
seemed  fresher  than  she  had  been  at  any  time 
before,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  the  clothing 
she  wore  had  been  worn  for  a  week  or  more 
under  circumstances  that  did  not  tend  to  pre 
serve  its  freshness.  With  that  feminine  inge 
nuity  which  it  is  the  despair  of  masculine 
humanity  to  understand,  she  had  managed  to 
alter  the  style  or  the  fit  or  the  "  hang  "  of  the 

83 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

gown  she  wore  so  that  it  looked  like  something 
else. 

"You  must  have  found  needles  and  thread 
in  your  room,"  the  young  man  said  with  undis 
guised  admiration  of  the  result. 

"No;  oh,  no,"  she  answered;  "but  there  were 
pins." 

Marvin  said  no  more.  He  simply  sank  into 
his  chair  wondering  how,  with  nothing  better 
than  pins  to  work  with,  the  girl  had  managed 
to  make  so  great  a  transformation  in  a  gown 
of  the  utmost  simplicity. 

When  the  two  met  upon  the  deck  in  the 
moonlight,  after  Gabrielle  had  dressed  the 
wounds  of  her  patients  anew,  the  boat  was 
slowly  steaming  up  the  river.  There  was  a 
moon  nearly  full.  The  air  of  the  Southern 
springtime  was  soft  and  warm,  and  the  silence 
was  unbroken  except  by  the  muffled  and  sooth 
ingly  monotonous  sounds  that  came  from  the 
engines  and  the  paddle-wheel  at  the  stern  of  the 
vessel.  The  conditions  were  ideal  for  the  telling 
of  the  young  woman's  story,  and  she  had  nerved 
herself  to  tell  it  fully,  even  in  its  painful  parts. 
84 


THE   STORY   OF    GABRIELLE 

"You  suppose  me  to  be  a  French  Creole  of 
Louisiana,  of  course,"  she  began,  "but  I  am 
not.  French  and  English  are  so  much  alike  to 
me,  —  I  mean,  they  are  so  equally  my  mother 
tongues,  —  that  I  sometimes  forget  and  speak 
in  one  language  when  I  should  use  the  other." 

"  I  have  observed  that,"  the  young  man  an 
swered.  "  But  I  have  noticed  also  that  you 
never  interlard  your  English  sentences  with 
French  words  or  phrases.  From  that  I  infer 
that  you  really  know  your  French  thoroughly. 
For  the  interjection  of  French  words  and 
phrases  into  English  sentences  is  merely  a 
trick  of  people  who  wish  to  pretend  to  knowl 
edge  that  they  have  not." 

"  Is  it  ?  I  didn't  know  that.  But  of  course 
when  I  am  speaking  French,  I  must  use  only 
French  words  ;  and  when  I  am  speaking  Eng 
lish,  I  must  use  none  but  English  words.  That 
is  a  matter  of  course." 

"To  so  honest  a  mind  as  yours,  yes,"  he  an 
swered.  "  But  not  all  people  are  so  honest  as 
you  are." 

"  But  one  must  be  honest  and  truthful,"  she 

85 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

answered  with  a  tone  of  amazed  questioning. 
"Is  it  not  so?" 

"  Many  people  are  not  so  strongly  impressed 
with  that  obligation  as  you  are,"  he  answered. 
"  But  pardon  me,  I  did  not  mean  to  interrupt. 
I  am  anxious  only  to  listen." 

"Thank  you!"  she  said.  Then  to  the  utter 
astonishment  of  the  young  man,  she  seemed  to 
break  entirely  away  from  her  subject. 

"  You  know  about  Coligny  ?  "  she  asked, 
"and  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  the  massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew  ?  And  you  know  about  the 
Camisards  and  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  and  all 
the  rest  of  it?" 

"  I  have  read  about  all  that  in  history,"  he 
answered,  "  but  I  can't  say  that  I  remember  it 
at  all  accurately." 

"Well,  at  least  you  know  the  history  in  a 
general  way.  Very  well.  My  ancestors,  on  my 
father's  side,  were  soldiers  under  Coligny  and 
under  Jean  Cavalier,  the  boy-commander  of  the 
Camisards.  They  were  Huguenots,  and  when, 
many  years  afterward,  the  Huguenots  were 
driven  out  of  France  by  the  persecutions  there, 
86 


THE   STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

my  ancestors  were  among  those  that  came  to 
America.  My  great,  great,  I  don't  know  how 
many  times  great-grandfather  settled  on  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina.  The  story  is  that  he 
brought  no  money  or  property  with  him,  but  he 
was  a  man  of  energy  and  ability,  and  so  he  soon 
acquired  land  and  became  a  prosperous  planter, 
and  founded  the  family. 

"  Well,  a  long  time  ago,  my  grandfather  re 
moved  to  Louisiana.  He  set  himself  up  as  a 
merchant  and  cotton  factor  in  New  Orleans, 
and  at  his  death  my  father  succeeded  him  in 
the  business.  My  father  married  my  mother, 
a  Frenchwoman,  born  in  Paris,  but  living  then 
in  Louisiana  on  the  plantation  up  the  bayou 
there  where  I  came  to  you  to  beg." 

"  No,"  he  interrupted,  "  say  rather  where  you 
came  to  me  to  ask  for  that  hospitality  which  it 
was  gladness  to  grant." 

"As  you  please,"  she  answered,  "but  I  felt 
myself  to  be  a  beggar  all  the  same.  You  see 
you  are  a  man  of  very  generous  mind,  but  I 
didn't  know  it  then,  and  so  it  was  as  a  beggar 
that  I  came  to  you. 

87 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

"  I  was  born  in  New  Orleans  and  lived  there 
a  good  deal.  But  I  lived  a  good  part  of  the 
time  on  the  plantation  where  you  first  met  me. 
My  mother  never  could  learn  English,  —  per 
haps  because  my  father  spoke  both  languages 
equally  well,  and  French  was  the  language 
always  spoken  in  the  household,  —  at  least 
whenever  my  mother  was  present,  and  out  of 
respect  for  her.  But  I  was  sent  to  English- 
speaking  schools  in  order  that  my  English 
might  be  kept  good. 

"  Finally  my  mother  died.  She  was  struck 
by  lightning.  You  must  know  that  all  my  peo 
ple  die  sudden  and  violent  deaths.  It  is  Fate, 
or  Providence,  as  you  will,  but  it  is  always 
so." 

Here  the  girl  paused  in  her  narrative,  and, 
without  asking  to  be  excused,  went  away  to  her 
room  for  a  few  minutes.  Hugh  Marvin  under 
stood,  and  he  was  much  too  tactful  either  to 
offer  escort  or  to  await  her  return,  and  in  that 
way  extort  explanation  or  apology  from  her. 
He  made  some  errand  to  the  pilot-house  instead, 
and  remained  absent  until  he  was  sure  that  Ga- 
88 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

brielle  had  returned  to  the  forward  deck.  Then 
he  joined  her  there,  saying  :  — 

"  Pardon  me  if  I  have  kept  you  waiting.  It 
seemed  desirable  that  I  should  speak  with  the 
pilot." 

The  girl  answered  with  a  simple  "Thank  you ; 
you  are  always  very  kind." 

Then  she  resumed  her  story.  "  When  my 
mother  died  —  my  mother  was  a  Catholic, 
you  know  —  I  was  so  sorely  stricken  that  I 
wanted  to  go  into  a  convent  and  become  a  nun, 
though  I  was  not  a  Catholic.  I  felt  that  I 
wanted  to  get  out  of  a  world  that  no  longer 
held  my  mother.  That  was  all  I  thought  about 
the  matter. 

"  Presently  it  was  arranged  that  I  should  go 
to  France  and  enter  a  helpful  sisterhood,  not 
to  become  a  nun,  but  to  be  trained  as  a  nurse. 
You  see  I  was  getting  to  be  a  tall  girl  then, 
and  I  saw  no  prospect  for  myself  except  to 
become  just  a  young  lady.  That  seemed  to  me 
to  be  a  very  poor  outlook.  I  wanted  to  be  use 
ful  in  the  world,  and  so  I  went  to  Paris  and 
served  for  three  years  in  the  institute.  I 
89 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

learned  how  to  care  for  the  sick  and  wounded 
in  every  way.  Many  times  I  was  called  upon 
to  stitch  up  gaping  wounds.  Many  times, 
while  waiting  for  the  doctor  to  come,  I  have 
set  fractures  so  far  successfully  that  he  has 
accepted  and  approved  my  operation  and  left 
it  so. 

"  In  the  institute  we  were  required  to  learn 
everything  that  might  be  useful  to  us  in  nurs 
ing  the  sick  and  the  wounded.  Among  other 
things  we  had  to  go  to  the  forge  and  learn 
to  make  for  ourselves  whatever  instruments, 
of  a  simple  sort  at  least,  our  nursing  might 
require.  That  is  why  I  knew  how  to  forge 
that  pair  of  forceps  when  it  was  needed.  It 
used  to  tire  my  hands  and  arms  terribly,  but 
I  learned  how  to  do  it  all,  'in  aid  of  humanity.' 
That  was  the  appeal  the  sisters  always  made 
to  us. 

"  Finally  this  war  approached  and  I  was 
brought  home  to  New  Orleans.  My  father 
and  my  three  brothers  went  into  the  army  and 
I  was  left  in  the  care  of  my  aunt. 

"Now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  the 
90 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

creese  which  I  know  you  have  been  wonder 
ing  about.  One  of  my  brothers  once  made 
the  journey  around  the  world.  He  bought  that 
creese  in  the  far  east  somewhere  —  I  don't 
know  where.  He  was  interested  in  it  because 
of  its  workmanship,  just  as  you  have  been ; 
but  he  was  still  more  interested  in  it  because 
he  was  told  that  a  princess  had  saved  her 
honor  by  plunging  it  into  her  own  breast  at 
a  time  when  no  other  salvation  was  possible 
to  her. 

"  He  gave  me  the  knife  as  a  curiosity  at 
first.  But  when  all  my  mankind  went  into 
the  war,  this  young  brother  of  mine  came  to 
me  and  asked  to  see  the  creese.  When  I  had 
brought  it  to  him,  he  carefully  examined  its 
point  and  its  edges.  Then  he  said  to  me : 
'  Remember  the  princess  who  once  used  this. 
Use  it  as  resolutely  as  she  did,  if  occasion 
arises.  Use  it  against  your  assailant  if  you 
can.  If  not,  use  it  against  yourself,  remem 
bering  that  death  is  immeasurably  preferable 
to  dishonor.'  I  have  carried  it  in  my  corsage 
ever  since,  resolved  to  use  it,  if  need  be,  in  the 

91 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

way  he  said.  To  a  loyal  woman,  you  know, 
the  command  of  her  father  or  her  brother  is 
law. 

"  But  I  didn't  mean  to  talk  of  that,  I  only 
wanted  to  explain  how  I  came  to  carry  the 
creese  in  my  corsage.  I  shall  always  carry  it 
there. 

"  Now  let  me  go  back  to  what  I  was  saying. 
When  this  war  broke  out  and  my  father  and 
brothers  went  into  the  army,  I  was  left  alone 
with  my  aunt  in  New  Orleans.  My  father 
was  killed  in  the  seven  days'  battle  around 
Richmond.  One  of  my  brothers  was  killed 
at  Chancellorsville,  another  fell  at  Sharpsburg, 
and  the  third  —  a  mere  boy,  Pierre  —  was 
among  the  '  missing,'  after  Pickett's  charge  at 
Gettysburg.  We  hoped  for  a  time,  my  aunt 
and  I,  that  he  might  not  have  been  killed,  but 
only  wounded,  and  that  he  might  be  found 
in  some  Northern  hospital.  We  had  inquiries 
made  in  every  direction,  but  all  in  vain.  Most 
of  the  '  missing '  in  that  Gettysburg  charge 
were  buried  in  trenches  and  without  being 
identified,  and  my  brother  was  undoubtedly 
92 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

among  the  number.  It  is  our  family  habit,  as 
I  told  you  before,  to  die  with  boots  on,  though 
we  have  never  been  violent  people  or  people 
whose  conduct  invited  violence. 

"  Now  let  me  tell  you  the  rest.  When  Butler 
came  to  New  Orleans  and  issued  his  infamous 
order  permitting  his  soldiers  to  judge  for  them 
selves  whether  they  should  feel  insulted  by 
the  conduct  of  any  woman  of  the  city,  and  if 
they  chose  to  feel  insulted,  authorizing  them  to 
treat  us  as  vile  creatures,  my  aunt  grew  alarmed 
for  my  safety.  You  see  under  such  orders  it 
wasn't  possible  for  me  or  any  well-behaved 
woman  to  walk  the  streets  at  all.  If  one  of  us 
met  a  half-dozen  drunken  soldiers,  and  stepped 
aside  to  let  them  pass,  our  very  courtesy  could 
be  construed  as  an  insult,  subjecting  us  to  the 
most  brutal  treatment  in  return." 

"  Yes,  I  understand,"  answered  Marvin. 
"  Butler  ought  to  have  been  cashiered  and 
hanged  for  issuing  that  order,  and  there  are 
many  people  at  the  North  who  were  disap 
pointed  that  he  was  not.  But  I  did  not  mean 
to  interrupt.  Pardon  me  !  " 

93 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  Well,  at  first  my  aunt  thought  I  should  be 
safe  if  I  stayed  indoors.  We  had  a  large  gar 
den  where  I  could  take  my  exercise.  But  one 
day  a  squad  of  drunken  soldiers  came  to  the 
house  and  forced  their  way  into  it.  They 
demanded  to  see  me,  accusing  me  of  having 
aided  confederates,  held  as  prisoners,  to  escape. 
I  had  never  done  anything  of  the  kind,  and 
besides  these  men  had  no  authority  to  arrest 
me  or  even  to  inquire  about  me.  They  were 
simply  soldiers  wandering  about  the  streets. 
They  hadn't  even  a  corporal  in  command  of 
them. 

"  My  aunt  had  hidden  me  under  the  wooden 
water  cistern  in  the  garden,  and  so  when  the 
men  wandered  all  over  the  house  upon  a  pre 
tence  of  hunting  for  me,  but  meanwhile  punch 
ing  holes  in  the  pictures,  pouring  molasses  over 
the  furniture,  and  pocketing  many  things  of 
value,  they  failed  to  find  me.  My  aunt  was 
extremely  courteous  to  them.  We  had  some  very 
fine  and  strong  old  sherry  in  the  house,  and 
this  she  set  before  them,  bidding  them  help 
themselves. 

94 


THE   STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

"The  result  was  what  she  intended.  The 
men  were  soon  helplessly  drunk,  and  while 
they  lay  sleeping  on  the  sofas  and  beds,  and 
some  of  them  on  the  floor,  she  and  I  fled  from 
the  house.  We  already  had  a  military  permit 
to  go  to  our  plantation  on  the  bayou — there 
where  you  first  saw  me.  So  that  night  we 
set  out,  and  after  that  we  lived  on  the  plan 
tation." 

"  But  what  became  of  the  New  Orleans  house 
and  its  contents  ?  " 

"  We  never  knew  ;  we  never  cared  about  it. 
We  only  wanted  to  be  safe,  and  we  thought 
we  should  be  so  on  the  plantation.  But  as  it 
turned  out,  we  were  not.  Don't  you  think  war 
is  cruelly  wrong,  Mr.  Marvin  ? " 

"  Utterly,  infamously  wrong,"  he  answered 
with  fervor.  "  No  words  can  half  express  its 
hideousness.  War  is  simply  savagery  let  loose. 
It  is  crime  and  its  conduct  is  fruitful  of  crime. 
It  is  useless  also  and  worse  than  useless.  True 
it  settles  questions,  but  those  questions  could 
be  more  fairly  settled  by  other  means,  at  vastly 
smaller  cost  in  money,  and  without  the  loss  of 

95 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

a  single  life  or  the  widowing  and  orphaning  of 
a  single  family.  It  is  a  resort  to  brute  force, 
utterly  unworthy  of  civilized  human  beings. 
Morally  it  is  on  an  exact  level  with  a  murderous 
Kentucky  mountain  feud." 

The  young  man  wanted  to  go  on,  and,  as 
one  who  had  faced  fire  without  flinching,  he 
had  a  right  to  his  opinion  on  the  subject.  But 
he  was  restrained  by  a  fear  that  he  should  fall 
to  preaching  on  a  subject  which  always  aroused 
all  that  was  best  and  most  intense  in  his 
nature.  So  he  interrupted  the  flow  of  his  own 
discourse  by  saying  :  — 

"  Pardon  me,  I  want  to  hear  the  rest  of  your 
story." 

Then  the  girl  resumed  :  — 

"  After  we  went  to  the  plantation  we  were 
a  good  deal  bothered  by  raids,  —  some  of  them 
from  one  side  and  some  from  the  other.  The 
raiders  carried  off  pretty  nearly  everything 
we  had  to  eat,  including  all  the  farm  animals 
and  fowls,  and  all  the  meat  and  all  the  grain. 
They  gave  us  receipts  for  all  these  things  and 
told  us  that  they  would  be  paid  for.  But  we 
96 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

couldn't  eat  the  paper  receipts,  and  so  we 
often  had  to  live  upon  wild  greens  gathered 
in  the  fields. 

"  Still,  thus  far  the  raiders  were  commanded 
by  officers  who  were  gentlemen,  and  sometimes 
they  left  us  a  little  meal  and  a  little  bacon 
to  keep  us  from  starving.  Of  course  all  the 
negroes  were  carried  away  from  the  plantation 
except  a  few  faithful  old  house-servants  who 
always  hid  themselves  in  a  time  of  raiding. 

"We  had  five  bales  of  cotton,  and  the  few 
negroes  who  remained  dug  a  pit  and  buried 
them  near  the  bayou  bank  so  that  we  might 
perhaps  sell  them  to  the  people  from  the 
North  who  are  buying  cotton  down  here. 
But  somebody  found  the  burial-place,  dug  up 
the  cotton,  and  carried  it  away.  That  was 
only  a  little  while  before  I  saw  you." 

"  Pardon  the  interruption,"  broke  in  young 
Marvin,  "but  were  those  five  bales  marked  in 
any  way  ? " 

"  Only  with  a  letter  '  L,'  surrounded  by  a 
circle.  But  why  do  you  ask  ? " 

"  Only  that  I  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with 

97 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

cotton  bales,  and  I  might  happen  to  stumble 
upon  these.  Go  on  with  your  story,  please." 

"Well,  at  last  came  the  negro  raid,  a  few 
days  before  I  saw  you.  When  my  aunt 
found  that  the  force  consisted  mainly  of  negro 
troops  who  were  shouting,  '  Remember  Fort 
Pillow,'  —  though  I  don't  know  what  that 
meant,  — she  became  terribly  afraid  for  me.  So 
she  sent  me  to  hide  in  the  swamp. 

"  When  I  thought  the  raiders  were  gone,  I 
crept  back  to  find  my  aunt.  I  found  her, 
Mr.  Marvin,  with  three  bayonet  wounds 
through  her  gentle  breast. 

"  The  house  was  in  ashes.  So  were  all 
the  negro  quarters.  So  were  all  the  gin- 
houses,  sugar-houses,  and  everything  else.  The 
plantation  was  a  scene  of  utter  desolation." 

The  young  man  shuddered.  All  that  he 
said  was :  — 

"  And  men  call  that  '  civilized '  war.  Damn 
such  civilization  !  " 

He  was  on  the  point  of  apologizing  for  the 
strong  word,  but  seeing  an  unmistakable 
"Amen"  written  upon  the  girl's  moonlit 
98 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

countenance,  he  let  it  go  at  that,  and  she 
resumed  her  narrative. 

"  I  found  only  one  living  creature  on  the 
plantation.  That  was  old  Michael,  the  super 
annuated  negro  carriage-driver.  He  seemed 
even  feebler  than  I  had  known  him  to  be 
before,  but  he  helped  me  dig  a  grave  for 
my  aunt  there  in  the  house  grounds,  where 
even  the  trees  had  been  burned.  There 
wasn't  any  prayerbook  to  be  had,  but  Michael 
remembered  a  part  of  the  Episcopal  service  for 
the  dead,  while  I  remembered  some  of  the 
Catholic  prayers.  So  we  recited  what  we 
could  as  we  lowered  the  body  into  the  grave 
and  covered  it  with  earth,  leaving  the  rest  to 
God." 

Here  the  girl  rose  and  went  away  for  a  time. 
Again  Hugh  Marvin  manufactured  some  errand 
of  duty,  so  that  she  might  return  unobserved, 
and  that  on  his  return  he  might  find  her 
seated  and  awaiting  him.  When  he  did  so, 
the  girl,  obviously  controlling  her  emotions 
with  difficulty,  recognized  his  tactfulness  merely 
by  saying  "  Thank  you  !  " 

99 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

Then  without  waiting  for  any  reply  from 
him,  she  broke  again  into  her  story. 

"  We  had  not  finished  the  filling  up  of  the 
grave,  when  poor  old  Michael  suddenly  stood 
upright,  turned  ashy  pale,  —  in  the  way  that  the 
black  negroes  do,  you  know,  —  and  then  sank 
helpless  to  the  ground.  By  way  of  explanation 
to  me,  he  said  :  — 

" '  I  done  cotched  three  o'  de  bullets,  Mis' 
Gabr'elle,  when  the  fightin'  was  a-goin'  on. 
But  I  cotched  'em  in  a  good  cause,  a-tryin'  to 
save  yo'  aunt.' 

"A  moment  later  the  poor  old  man  was 
dead. 

"With  my  own  hands  I  dug  another  grave 
there  and  placed  the  faithful  servitor  in  it. 
I  repeated  all  I  could  of  the  burial  services. 
Then  I  shovelled  the  earth  into  the  grave, 
and  then,  seeing  another  raiding  party  ap 
proaching,  I  ran  back  to  the  swamp  and  lay 
down  in  my  hiding-place  in  the  canebrake. 

"  I  stayed  there  for  two  days  or  three,  I 
don't  remember.  I  was  out  of  my  head,  I 
reckon ;  anyhow  I  stayed  there  till  you  came 
100 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

and  started  your  fire  and  began  to  fry  your 
bacon.  I  was  famished.  I  had  eaten  no 
morsel  of  food  for  a  week,  I  think.  I  had 
fully  intended  to  starve  to  death  there.  I 
didn't  see  anything  else  for  me  to  do,  and  so  I 
nerved  myself  to  that.  But  when  I  smelled  the 
bacon,  I  lost  my  courage  and  went  to  you  for 
food." 

It  was  Hugh  Marvin's  habit  to  possess 
his  soul  in  patience  under  all  circumstances. 
Just  now,  as  he  sat  there  looking  into  the 
hollow,  distressed  eyes  of  this  young  woman, 
who  was  manifestly  on  the  verge  of  collapse, 
he  found  it  difficult  to  do  so.  He  wanted 
to  kill  the  man  who  had  led  that  raid  and 
all  the  men  who  had  participated  in  it.  But 
as'  that  could  not  be,  his  feeling  was  forced 
to  find  expression  in  words. 

"That  is  war,"  he  said  with  intense  feeling, 
"war  in  its  '  civilized  '  form,  as  men  say,  pretend 
ing  that  savagery  might  be  worse.  There  is 
nothing  worse.  War  is  savagery.  It  is  utterly 
devilish.  It  is  hell  broken  loose.  Yet  history 
and  poetry  and  all  the  arts  have  loved  to 
101 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

celebrate  it  as  a  manifestation  of  the  higher 
qualities  of  manhood.  It  is  nothing  of  the 
sort.  It  is  brutality  pure  and  simple,  and 
the  man  who  can  make  the  most  brutish 
brute  of  himself  is  the  one  most  applauded. 

"  The  one  thing  most  highly  exalted  by 
the  poet  and  the  historian  is  courage  of  the 
physical  sort.  Yet  what  is  it  but  a  virtue 
that  men  share  with  brute  beasts  ?  The 
bravest  soldier  that  ever  lived  could  be 
beaten  at  his  own  game  by  a  ferocious  and 
insensate  bulldog.  Soldiers  proudly  boast 
that  they  do  not  make  war  upon  women 
and  children,  and  they  do  not  in  any  open 
and  honest  way.  But  women  and  children 
are  the  real  victims,  the  real  sufferers  from 
every  act  of  war. 

"  It  is  easy  enough  for  a  man  in  good 
health  to  stand  unflinching  under  fire.  Any 
man  who  could  not  do  that  or  would  not  do 
it  upon  necessary  occasion  would  be  desti 
tute  of  all  manliness.  But  why  should  a 
thing  so  slight  be  exalted  as  the  highest 
reach  of  human  virtue  ? 

102 


THE    STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

"  Besides,  the  whole  thing  is  unfair.  The 
proudest  armies  in  all  the  world  have  never 
for  one  moment  hesitated  to  take  unfair  ad 
vantage  of  their  adversaries  in  order  to  slaugh 
ter  them.  That  is  what  the  word  '  strategy ' 
means,  and  it  is  all  that  it  means.  The  duellist 
and  the  prize-fighter  are  more  honorable.  They 
at  any  rate  try  to  equalize  conditions  so  that 
their  fighting  may  be  fair.  The  soldier,  on  the 
contrary,  takes  every  unfair  advantage  that  he 
can.  He  lies  to  his  enemy  and  cheats  him  in 
a  thousand  ways,  and  it  is  the  most  successful 
liar  and  cheat  who  wins  battles  and  campaigns. 
Do  you  wonder  that  I  hate  war  and  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

"  Then  you  regard  all  soldiers  as  bad  and 
brutish  men?"  the  girl  queried. 

"No,  I  think  them  badly  misled  and  de 
ceived  men.  I  think  they  have  mistaken  the 
shell  for  the  kernel  of  courage.  There  is 
a  gravestone  in  a  cemetery  at  Memphis 
which  records  that  once  the  pilot  of  a  burn 
ing  steamboat,  in  order  to  save  the  lives  of 
the  crew  and  passengers  in  his  charge,  re- 
103 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

fused  to  leave  his  post  though  ordered  and 
entreated  to  do  so  ;  that  he  thus  deliberately 
sacrificed  himself  in  order  that  others,  strangers 
to  him,  might  escape  the  fury  of  the  flames.1 
That  pilot  was  a  greater  hero  than  any  man, 
North  or  South,  has  shown  himself  to  be  in  this 
war.  Yet  his  deed  of  heroic  renunciation  and 
self-sacrifice  is  remembered  only  upon  an  ob 
scure  gravestone,  and  it  will  never  occur  to  any 
congress  to  award  a  pension  to  his  widow. 

"  I  tell  you,  Miss  Latour,  the  world  is  still 
essentially  savage.  What  we  boast  of  as  our 
civilization  is  nothing  more  than  a  veneer ;  it 
is  thinner  even  than  that  —  it  is  scarcely  more 
than  a  coat  of  varnish." 

The  girl  sat  thinking  and  not  answering. 
She  had  suffered  much  and  she  was  still  suffer 
ing.  Presently  she  seemed  to  rouse  herself,  as 
if  from  a  dream.  "  I  think  you  are  right,"  she 
said  at  last.  "  I  have  thought  much  about  that, 
only  my  thinking  hasn't  been  so  well  ordered 

1  The  incident  recorded  on  that  tomb  was  probably  the 
fact  on  which  Colonel  John  Hay  founded  his  hero  poem  of 
"Jim  Bludso:' — AUTHOR. 

104 


THE   STORY   OF    GABRIELLE 

as  yours  is.  It  has  been  only  a  girl's  think- 
ing." 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  will  you  not  ? "  he  asked 
persuasively.  "  I  am  disposed  to  respect  the 
thinking  of  any  sincere  mind,  and  yours  is 
sincere  I  know." 

She  did  not  recognize  the  compliment  or 
make  her  bow  to  it  in  any  conventional  way. 
Obviously  she  was  not  a  woman  of  experience 
in  drawing-rooms.  She  simply  answered  :  — 

"  Of  course  it  is  sincere.  I  don't  know 
enough  to  think  in  any  artificial  way." 

"  Tell  me  the  substance  of  it,  please,"  he  said 
again,  persuasively. 

"  Well,  when  the  war  came,  I  was  only  seven 
teen  years  old,  and  we  were  living  very  happily, 
my  father,  my  brothers,  and  I.  Nobody  was 
interfering  with  us  that  I  could  see,  and  no 
body  was  interfering  with  anybody  else,  so  far 
as  I  could  hear.  Of  course  if  a  lot  of  men  had 
come  to  our  house  and  tried  to  break  into  it,  I 
should  have  understood  that  my  father  and  my 
brothers  ought  to  get  their  guns  and  repel  the 
attack.  But  nothing  of  that  kind  was  happen- 
105 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

ing  anywhere,  and  so  I  could  not  see  why 
people  should  grow  excited  and  put  on  uniforms 
and  set  to  work  righting  each  other. 

"  When  I  asked  questions  of  that  kind,  I  was 
told  that  I  did  not  understand  —  that  nations 
and  states  and  communities  were  different  from 
individuals  or  families.  I  tried  to  understand 
that,  but  I  never  could.  I  never  could  make 
out  the  difference.  As  nations  and  states  and 
communities  are  composed  only  of  individuals 
and  families,  I  could  not  see  wherein  there  was 
any  real  difference  between  the  two  cases.  I 
knew  that  whenever  my  father  had  a  business 
controversy  with  any  other  gentleman,  he  used 
to  say  :  — 

" '  Let  us  not  quarrel  about  the  matter.  I 
want  to  do  what  is  right,  and  I  am  sure  you  do. 
But  we  don't  agree  as  to  what  is  right.  Very 
well,  we  are  both  of  us  biassed.  Let  us  ask 
some  of  our  neighbors  who  are  not  biassed,  to 
listen  to  both  sides,  and  tell  us  what  is  right. 
And  let  us  do  the  right.'  Almost  always  that 
settled  the  matter.  But  even  when  that  failed, 
my  father  and  the  other  man  didn't  set  to  work 
106 


THE   STORY    OF    GABRIELLE 

to  kill  each  other  by  way  of  adjusting  the  dis 
pute.  They  brought  suits  —  I  think  that  is 
what  they  called  it ;  at  any  rate  they  left  it  to 
the  courts  to  say  what  was  right,  and  whatever 
the  court  said  they  were  compelled  to  do.  I  used 
to  wonder  why  that  wasn't  a  good  way  to  decide 
things.  I  wondered  why  states  and  nations  and 
communities  couldn't  in  the  same  way  ask  some 
disinterested  person  to  decide  what  was  right,  or 
failing  that,  why  there  shouldn't  be  some  court 
to  decide  and  to  enforce  its  decision. 

"  I  was  laughed  at  a  good  deal  for  thinking 
in  that  way  and  so  I  quit  talking  about  my 
thoughts.  But  after  a  while  I  decided  that  the 
trouble  was  that  states  and  nations  and  com 
munities  didn't  want  to  find  out  the  right  and 
do  it,  but  were  bent  upon  having  their  own 
way  regardless  of  right  or  wrong.  It  was  only 
childish  thinking,  of  course,  but  I  still  can't 
see  wherein  it  was  wrong." 

"  Nor  can  I,"  the  young  man  answered, 
"  and  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  wasn't 
wrong,  but  was,  in  the  slang  of  our  time, 
'  mighty  right.'  ' 

107 


IX 

AN  EMOTIONAL  CRISIS 

AT   breakfast    the   next   morning    Hugh 
Marvin    was    quick    to    discover    that 
Gabrielle   was   in   a   mood    of    severe 
and  distressing  depression. 

"You  have  not  slept  well,"  he  said  with  a 
tenderness  in  his  tone  which  very  nearly  undid 
all  that  the  girl  was  doing  to  maintain  her 
self-control. 

"I  have  not  slept  at  all,"  she  answered, 
simply  and  frankly  as  any  child  might. 

"  But  why  not  ?     Were  you  ill  ?  or  in  pain  ? " 
"No,  not  that.     But  what  I  had  to  tell  you 
last  night  was  —  well,  it  was  depressing." 

"I  can  well  understand  that,"  he  answered 
soothingly ;  "  but  all  that  is  past  now,  and  you 
must  stop  thinking  of  it.  You  must  turn  your 
face  to  the  future." 

108 


AN    EMOTIONAL    CRISIS 

"  There  is  no  future  for  me,"  she  answered. 
"That  is  what  kept  me  awake  —  thinking  of 
my  position.  You  are  very  kind,  and  for  the 
present  I  am  living  upon  your  bounty.  I  can 
not  go  on  doing  that,  and  there  seems  to  be 
no  other  way  except  for  me  to  die.  There  is 
the  river,  and  I  have  the  creese,  you  know." 

The  young  man  rose,  placed  himself  in  front 
of  the  girl,  and  with  mingled  passion  and 
deliberation  said  :  — 

"You  have  no  right  to  say  that,  Gabrielle 
Latour,  and  you  know  it.  I  have  given  you  no 
'  bounty,'  as  you  call  it.  I  have  merely  extended 
to  you  a  hospitality  which  it  is  the  privilege  of 
a  gentleman  to  offer  to  any  woman  —  or  to  any 
man  either  for  that  matter  —  when  there  is 
occasion.  When  you  say  you  are  living  upon 
my  bounty,  you  wrong  and  insult  me,  and  you 
very  grievously  hurt  my  feelings." 

Without  waiting  for  any  answer,  and  with 
out  excusing  the  abruptness  of  his  departure 
from  the  scarcely  begun  breakfast,  he  strode 
away. 

The  girl  also  quitted  the  breakfast  table  and 
109 


A    DAUGHTER   OF    THE    SOUTH 

retired  to  her  room,  where  she  wept  for  a  time. 
After  that  she  morally  flagellated  herself. 

"  He  was  entirely  right,"  she  thought.  "  It 
was  an  insult  to  him  for  me  to  speak  of  his 
hospitality  as  his  'bounty.'  He  has  made  me 
an  honored  guest  at  his  table.  He  has  gone 
out  of  his  way  to  anticipate  my  wants.  He  has 
shown  me  from  the  hour  of  our  first  meeting 
his  eager  desire  to  minister  to  my  comfort  and 
my  welfare  in  every  possible  way.  He  even 
kept  his  boat  at  anchor  after  he  had  sent  the 
others  up  the  river,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
return  me  to  my  friends  if  I  had  any.  It 
was  a  cruel  wrong  and  insult  —  what  I  said  to 
him." 

After  a  little  she  went  out  into  the  steamer's 
cabin,  and  called  one  of  the  attendants,  asking 
him  to  bring  her  writing  materials.  When  he 
did  so,  she  addressed  a  note  to  Hugh  Marvin 
and  asked  that  it  should  be  delivered  to  him 
at  once.  The  note  was  in  these  words  :  — 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  MARVIN  :  This  is  to  beg  that 
you  will  forgive  me.     I  did  indeed  do  you  wrong 
no 


AN    EMOTIONAL    CRISIS 

in  what  I  said.  I  ought  not  to  have  done  so, 
and  I  am  very  sorry.  You  are  a  generous  man. 
Perhaps  you  are  generous  enough  to  forgive 
me.  I  am  terribly  nervous,  and  overwrought, 
and  anxious.  That  is  not  an  excuse,  but  only 
an  explanation.  I  think  I  shall  sleep,  if  you 
will  send  me  word  that  I  am  forgiven.  Then 
to-night,  if  you  permit,  I  should  like  to  talk  to 
you  about  some  plans  I  have  been  trying  to 
form  for  the  immediate  future.  May  I  sit  with 
you  on  the  guards  to-night  and  tell  you  what 
I  have  been  thinking  ? " 

For  reply,  Marvin  scribbled  a  note  in  pencil 

saying :  — 

"  Sleep,  by  all  means,  and  may  you  sleep 
well.  I  have  nothing  to  forgive.  If  I  had,  the 
forgiveness  would  be  freely  yours.  Let  me 
explain.  In  such  small  care  as  I  have  been  and 
am  trying  to  take  of  you,  I  have  merely  been 
exercising  a  privilege.  If  that  lost  brother  of 
yours  who  fell  at  Gettysburg  were  alive  and 
had  opportunity  to  minister  to  a  sister  of  mine, 
he  would  very  surely  do  all  he  could  for  her 
in 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

welfare.  You  know  that,  do  you  not  ?  Then 
you  must  understand  that  in  every  service  I 
am  permitted  to  render  you,  I  am  only  paying 
my  obligation  to  the  dead. 

"Go  to  sleep  now,  and  this  evening  we'll  see 
what  is  best  to  be  done  concerning  your 
future." 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  instead  of  tearing 
up  Gabrielle's  pathetic  little  note,  as  it  was  his 
habit  to  do  with  all  but  important  business 
communications,  Hugh  Marvin  carefully  placed 
it  in  a  breast  pocketbook,  whence  he  withdrew 
it  several  times  that  day  to  read  it  anew. 

Every  tender  thought  that  connected  itself 
with  Gabrielle  Latour  seemed  precious  to  this 
young  man. 

"There  is  a  strange  fascination  about  her," 
he  reflected.  "  I  never  knew  anything  like  it 
before." 

But  he  did  not  introspectively  analyze  the 
matter.  He  was  afraid  to  do  that. 


112 


X 


FOR   THE   FUTURE 

WHEN  the  young  man  and  young 
woman  met  again  at  the  evening 
meal, — for  Gabrielle  had  slept  past 
the  luncheon  hour,  —  there  was  of  necessity  some 
constraint  of  manner  on  the  part  of  each.  An 
emotional  crisis  is  apt  to  produce  that  effect, 
particularly  when  the  emotion  is  mainly  written 
into  letters  instead  of  being  wrought  into  face- 
to-face  speech.  Upon  meeting  again,  each  of 
the  parties  to  such  a  correspondence  is  embar 
rassed  to  know  just  how  to  begin  relations 
anew,  and  each  is  conscious  of  the  other's  em 
barrassment  as  an  additionally  disturbing  factor 
in  the  problem. 

It  was  fortunate  for  these  two,  therefore, 
that  their  first  meeting  after  their  correspond 
ence  was  at  dinner.  The  presence  of  the 

"3 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

waiter  was  a  saving  grace,  and  the  little  cour 
tesies  of  the  table  gave  them  easy  occasions  for 
speech  of  an  unemotional  sort,  thus  avoiding 
the  constrained  silence  which  in  such  a  case  is 
the  one  thing  most  to  be  dreaded  and  avoided. 

By  the  time  that  the  meal  was  ended  the 
wheels  of  intercourse  were  turning  smoothly 
again,  and  so  the  meeting  on  the  guards,  half  an 
hour  or  so  later,  was  comparatively  easy  for  both. 

Gabrielle  promptly  took  the  conversation  into 
her  own  control  —  fearing,  perhaps,  to  intrust 
its  guidance  to  clumsier  masculine  manage 
ment. 

"  I  want  you  to  understand  me,  Mr.  Marvin, 
and  you  please  won't  misunderstand.  You  see 
I  must  look  forward  and  plan  a  little.  We  shall 
finish  this  voyage  within  a  few  days,  and  — 
well,  while  I  gratefully  accept  your  hospitality 
so  long  as  I  am  on  board  your  boat,  it  will  be 
different  when  the  boat  reaches  its  destination. 
I  want  to  ask  your  advice  about  that.  I  have 
no  money  you  know,  and  I  know  nobody  at  the 
North  but  you.  Can  you  tell  me  how  to  get 
employment  of  some  kind  as  soon  as  we  land  ? 
114 


FOR    THE    FUTURE 

I  will  do  anything  that  I  can,  and  I  am  stronger 
than  you  think.  I  would  cook  or  scrub  or 
wash  —  anything  that's  honest — " 

At  that  point  Marvin,  with  something  like  a 
shudder,  raised  his  hand  in  protest. 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind  will  be  necessary,"  he 
interjected.  "I  have  many  friends  in  Cairo  and 
St.  Louis  —  " 

"Do  you  live  in  Cairo  ?"  she  asked. 

"  I  live  wherever  I  happen  to  be  —  wherever 
my  business  calls  me.  But  as  I  say,  I  have 
many  friends  in  Cairo,  among  them  one  very 
dear  friend,  Mrs.  Will  Hallam.  She  is  the  wife 
of  the  richest  man  in  the  city,  and  she  is  a 
very  gracious  woman.  With  your  consent  I  am 
going  to  place  you  with  her  for  a  time  as  her 
guest." 

"  But  that  cannot  be.  I  cannot  be  a  depend 
ant,  a  beggar !  I  will  not.  I  must  pay  my  own 
way.  As  I  have  no  money,  I  must  pay  it  with 
useful  work  of  some  kind." 

"  Sit  down,  please,"  he  said,  smiling,  for  the 
girl  had  risen  in  her  excitement.  "  Let  me  tell 
you  about  this.  Mrs.  Will  Hallam  has  four 

"5 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

young  children  whom  she  very  greatly  wishes 
to  educate.  She  is  especially  anxious  that  they 
shall  learn  French  in  the  natural  way  by  hear 
ing  and  speaking  that  language  from  early  child 
hood.  I  am  rather  closely  in  her  confidence, 
perhaps  because  she  happens  to  be  my  only 
sister,  and  I  know  that  she  is  so  concerned  on 
this  point  that  she  has  been  planning  to  take 
the  little  people  to  France,  which  she  doesn't 
want  to  do  if  she  can  avoid  it.  She  has  tried 
in  vain  to  secure  a  nursery  governess  who 
really  knows  French  and  speaks  it  correctly. 
She  will  heap  benedictions  on  my  head  if  I  can 
induce  you  to  become  an  inmate  of  her  house, 
but  —  " 

He  paused  as  if  musing.     Then  he  added  :  — 
"  I  don't  want  her  to  pay  you  a  salary.     That 
is  so  much  like  wages,  and  I  don't  like  to  think 
of  you  as  working  for  wages." 

"  But  why  should  you  care  about  that  ?  " 
"I  don't  know  why,  but  somehow  I  do  care. 
If  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so,  I  have  learned, 
brief  as  our  acquaintance  has  been,  to  regard 
you  —  I  think  I  can't  explain  it,  but  I'd  rather  — 
116 


FOR   THE   FUTURE 

well,  it  would  please  me  better  if  you  wouldn't 
take  wages  from  my  sister,  but  just  be  her 
friend  and  —  incidentally  teach  French  to  her 
children.  It  will  be  for  a  very  little  while,  you 
know.  The  war  is  very  near  its  end,  and  when 
it  is  over,  you  will  own  your  father's  property 
—  the  house  in  New  Orleans,  and  the  plantation 
on  the  bayou,  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  In  the 
meantime,  if  you'll  permit  me  so  far  to  inter 
fere  with  your  affairs,  I  think  I  can  find  some 
one  who  will  advance  money  to  you  on  your 
prospects." 

"Are  you  planning  to  give  me  money,  Mr. 
Marvin  ?  "  the  girl  asked  with  a  dignity  that 
approached  indignation. 

"  No ;  oh,  no ! "  he  hastily  protested.  "Though 
I  should  be  glad  enough  to  do  so  if  you  per 
mitted.  You  see  you  seem  to  be  sole  inheritor 
of  a  considerable  property.  Of  course  you  can't 
administer  it  in  anyway  or  give  any  lien  upon  it 
till  the  estate  is  settled,  but  if  I  were  free  to 
offer  it,  I  should  think  your  promise  to  repay 
me  when  you  come  into  possession  an  ample 
security  for  a  loan.  Pardon  me  !  "  seeing  a  flash 
117 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

in  the  girl's  eyes,  "  I  am  not  offering  that ;  I  am 
only  explaining.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  might 
easily  find  some  other  business  man,  some  man 
who  doesn't  personally  know  you,  who  would 
make  the  advance  upon  the  same  terms,  on  my 
assurance  that  — •  " 

"  That  is  to  say  you  would  borrow  money  for 
me,  pledging  yourself  to  pay  in  my  stead  if  I 
fail  to  pay  ?  " 

"No,  not  exactly  that,  but  — 

"It  can  never  be  so,"  she  answered.  Pres 
ently  she  added :  — 

"  When  we  land  at  Cairo,  I  will  let  you  take 
me  to  your  sister's  house  if  you  choose,  and  I 
will  remain  there  as  her  guest  for  a  brief  while 
—  till  I  can  find  work.  Is  there  a  hospital  there 
in  which  I  might  nurse  ?  " 

"There  is  an  army  general  hospital  at  Mound 
City,  a  few  miles  above  Cairo,  on  the  Ohio. 
The  head  of  it  is  one  of  the  best  men  living, 
but  there  are  only  rough  soldiers  to  nurse,  and 
the  work  would  not  be  fit  for  you.  Besides,  as 
a  Southern  young  woman,  you  might  not  be 
acceptable  there.  The  doctor  is  establishing 
118 


FOR   THE    FUTURE 

a  little  city  hospital  in  Cairo,  under  care  of 
the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  — 

"He  is  a  Catholic  then?" 

"  No,  not  at  all.  But  he  has  learned  to  know 
the  ladies  of  that  sisterhood  through  their  nurs 
ing  work  elsewhere,  and  so  he  has  stood  ready 
to  join  them  and  become  their  medical  chief 
in  the  work  they  want  to  do  at  Cairo,  where  the 
need  of  such  work  is  very  pressing.  However, 
there  is  no  need  to  think  of  that  just  now. 
Let  all  that  go  till  you  are  comfortably  placed 
with  my  sister,  and  afterward  we  can  all  talk 
over  plans  together.  You  must  go  to  bed 
now." 

The  girl  rose  and  left  him  without  a  word 
—  without  even  saying  "Goodnight." 

Perhaps  she  could  not. 


119 


XI 

THE  WRATH   OF   EZRA   BRASS 

AFTER  Gabrielle  had  gone,  Hugh  Mar 
vin  sat  long  upon  the  deck  musing, 
planning,  and  in  a  wakeful  way,  dream 
ing.  This  young  woman  had  come  to  mean 
more  to  him  than  any  other  woman  had  ever 
meant.  He  was  always  chivalrous  in  his  atti 
tude  toward  women,  but  that  was  in  obedience 
to  principle.  It  was  not  abstract  principle 
that  prompted  him  now,  but  a  very  tender 
impulse,  the  exact  nature  of  which  he  did  not 
at  all  realize.  He  could  not  bear  the  thought 
of  her  suffering  in  any  way,  especially  suffer 
ing  humiliation.  He  knew  that  his  generous, 
warm-blooded  sister,  Mrs.  Hallam,  would  wel 
come  Gabrielle  and  make  a  cherished  friend  of 
her.  But  Gabrielle  had  shown  him  that  she 
was  too  proud  to  be  comfortable  in  any  condi- 

120 


THE    WRATH    OF    EZRA    BRASS 

tion  of  dependence.  From  a  woman  so  rich 
as  Mrs.  Hallam  was,  she  might  feel  free  to 
accept  mere  hospitality,  and  might  do  so  with 
out  soul  discomfort.  But  she  must  have  cloth 
ing  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  and  she  would  very 
certainly  resent  an  offer  on  Mrs.  Hallam's  part 
to  provide  for  her  in  that  way,  though  Hugh 
Marvin  smilingly  pictured  to  himself  the  delight 
his  sister  would  feel  in  having  dressmakers  in 
her  house,  and  herself  directing  them  in  the 
task  of  making  the  most  of  so  beautiful  a  girl. 

He  began  now  to  appreciate  Gabrielle's  point 
of  view  and  to  sympathize  with  it.  He  felt 
that  he  did  not  want  this  young  woman  to  be 
indebted  even  to  the  willing  generosity  of  his 
sister  for  the  clothes  upon  her  back. 

Presently,  as  he  sat  there  thinking  late  into 
the  night,  an  idea  came  to  him.  He  went  be 
low,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  boat  hands,  began 
pulling  cotton  bales  about,  carefully  inspecting 
them.  After  a  while  he  found  some  that  were 
badly  clay  stained  —  having  at  some  time  or 
other  been  buried  for  purposes  of  concealment 
—  and  that  had  no  marks  upon  their  coverings. 

121 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Selecting  five  of  these  bales  he  had  them 
rolled  to  another  part  of  the  boat.  Then  he 
sent  for  a  marking  pot  and  brush,  and  with  his 
own  hands,  by  the  light  of  a  flaming  torch,  he 
painted  upon  each  the  letter  "  L,"  with  a  circle 
surrounding  it. 

The  marking  was  too  manifestly  fresh  to  an 
swer  his  purpose.  After  it  dried,  as  it  did  in  a 
brief  while,  as  the  lampblack  was  mixed  only 
with  turpentine,  he  secured  a  pail  of  water  and 
some  cotton  waste.  With  the  dampened  waste 
he  carefully  wiped  clay  from  other  parts  of  the 
bales  and  smeared  it  over  the  markings,  so  that 
they  might  seem  old  and  weather  blurred. 

When  his  work  was  done  to  his  satisfaction, 
he  returned  to  the  deck  with  a  wreath  of  smiles 
overspreading  his  countenance,  and  he  sat  there 
smoking  in  comfortable  satisfaction  until  nearly 
morning.  Finally  he  went  to  his  bunk  thor 
oughly  pleased  with  his  night's  work. 

Toward  morning  the  boat  landed  at  Memphis, 
where  the  other  boats  of  the  little  fleet  had  been 
awaiting  it  for  thirty-six  hours. 

Early  in  the  morning,  as  the  boat  lay  moored 

122 


Ox  TUP:  INSTANT  Ilroii  MARVIN  SEIZED  HIM  KY  THE  THUOAT 

AM)    HURLED    HIM    OVERBOARD. 


THE    WRATH    OF    EZRA    BRASS 

to  the  levee,  Ezra  Brass  came  aboard,  and  this 
time  Marvin  permitted  his  visit.  The  young 
man  was  in  such  good  humor  with  his  night's 
work  and  with  the  solution  he  had  found  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  he  had  been  wrestling, 
that  even  Ezra  Brass's  presence  did  not  excite 
his  anger.  But  presently  Ezra  Brass  did. 

After  a  few  minutes'  conversation  on  the 
lower  deck,  which  had  no  guard-rails,  Brass 
turned  to  Marvin  and  said  :  — 

"  It  has  cost  us  a  pretty  penny  to  wait  here 
and  pay  wharfage  on  all  the  boats  while  you 
dallied  down  the  river  there.  But  I  was  young 
myself  once,  and  seeing  that  there  was  a  lady 
in  the  case  —  " 

On  the  instant  Hugh  Marvin  seized  him  by 
the  throat  and  hurled  him  overboard.  The 
current  was  strong,  and  the  water  was  cold, 
coming  as  it  did  from  the  melting  snows  of  the 
mountains  that  bound  the  Mississippi  valley  on 
the  east  and  west,  but  Brass  could  swim,  and 
so  Hugh  Marvin  had  no  concern  for  his  ulti 
mate  safety.  He  did  not  order  the  lowering 
of  a  boat,  and  when  some  one  of  his  subordi- 
123 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

nates  suggested  that  course,  he  vetoed  the 
proposal. 

"  Let  him  take  his  cold  ducking,"  he  replied. 
"  He'll  swim  ashore  a  little  way  down  the  levee, 
and  perhaps  his  manners  and  his  morals  will 
be  improved  by  the  experience." 

Brass  did  swim  ashore  after  a  severe  chilling. 
He  went  to  his  own  boat,  filled  himself  full  of 
hot  drinks,  and  went  to  bed.  In  the  meanwhile, 
the  stores  of  all  the  boats  having  been  replen 
ished,  Hugh  Marvin  ordered  all  of  them  to  cast 
off  and  proceed  up  the  river.  He  did  not  see 
Brass  again  during  the  sixty  hours  or  so  of  the 
voyage  up  to  Cairo. 

Brass,  as  soon  as  he  got  warm,  fell  into  a  rage 
and  began  planning  revenge.  With  the  indis 
cretion  of  drink,  to  which  he  was  not  accus 
tomed,  he  wrote  and  tore  up  several  vituperative 
letters  to  his  subordinate,  threatening  him  with 
all  sorts  of  pains  and  penalties.  As  he  got 
sober  and  thought  better  of  it  before  there  was 
a  chance  to  send  any  of  these  missives,  they  did 
no  harm  to  anybody. 

As  he  recovered  his  senses,  he  began  to  plan 
124 


THE    WRATH    OF    EZRA   BRASS 

his  revenge  in  more  rational  but  still  imprac 
ticable  ways.  At  one  time  he  decided  to  prose 
cute  Marvin  criminally  for  assault  and  battery. 
But  then  came  the  reflection  that  the  assault 
was  committed  in  Tennessee,  and  that  Marvin 
would  be  in  Illinois  before  he  could  get  at  him. 
Moreover,  a  Tennessee  jury  would  pretty  cer 
tainly  hold  the  assault  to  have  been  justified, 
if  Marvin  should  tell  what  had  provoked  it. 

So  Brass  tried  to  think  of  some  other  plan, 
and  several  that  at  first  seemed  feasible  were 
abandoned  on  the  ground  that  "  the  young  fel 
ler  knows  too  much."  For  while  this  expe 
dition  had  been  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  cotton  from  the  planters  and  bringing 
it  North  as  was  at  that  time  permitted  by 
the  government  as  a  matter  of  good  policy 
and  humanity,  Ezra  Brass  had  not  hesitated 
to  take  cotton  without  buying  it,  when  he 
found  it  up  lonely  creeks  and  bayous.  Some 
of  the  cotton  thus  taken  belonged  to  the 
United  States  government  and  bore  United 
States  identification  marks  upon  the  bales. 
Brass  had  carefully  seen  to  the  removal  of 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

these  marks,  but  he  could  not  know  how  far 
his  doings  might  be  known  or  hereafter  be 
come  known  to  Hugh  Marvin.  He  knew  only 
that  the  government  was  apt  to  be  a  relentless 
prosecutor  if  the  facts  should  be  discovered, 
and  so  on  the  whole  he  decided  after  a  day's 
meditation  to  let  Hugh  Marvin  alone  for  the 
present  and  treat  the  whole  matter  of  the  im 
promptu  bath  as  a  jest. 

"  But  my  time  will  come  some  day,"  he 
said,  compressing  his  lips,  "  and  I'll  git  my 
chance  to  git  even  with  that  young  feller." 

Only  one  thing  seriously  annoyed  him.  He 
could  not  afford  to  quarrel  with  Marvin  in  any 
way  serious  enough  to  make  a  final  break.  In 
that  new  expedition  which  he  was  planning,  he 
felt  that  he  simply  could  not  dispense  with  the 
young  man's  services  and  sagacity. 

"I'll  have  to  make  him  almost  rich  to  get 
him,"  he  reflected  bitterly,  "but  it's  got  to  be. 
Without  him  the  whole  thing  would  go  to  pot." 

So  the  wily  old  speculator  pocketed  his  wrath, 
for  the  time  at  least,  and  reconciled  himself  to 
the  inevitable. 

126 


XII 

"LYING   LIKE   A   GENTLEMAN'' 

IT   was   not    until    afternoon    that    Marvin 
spoke   to    Gabrielle   of   the   cotton  bales. 
Then    he   did    so    cautiously,    fearing   to 
blunder  into  some  betrayal  of  his  secret. 

"  You  told  me  the  other  evening,"  he  said, 
"that  your  aunt  had  some  cotton  bales  buried 
on  the  bayou  bank,  or  near  it  ? " 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  "but  somebody  dug  them 
up  and  carried  them  away." 

"  How  long  was  that  before  you  and  I  met 
each  other  ? " 

"  Only  a  day  or  two.  At  least  I  discovered 
the  loss  only  when  I  went  back  to  the  swamp 
after  burying  my  aunt." 

"  How  many  bales  were  there  ? " 
"Five." 

"  And  each  was  marked  with  the  letter  '  L ' 
with  a  circle  around  it  ? " 
127 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

"  Yes,  that  was  always  our  mark." 
The  young  man  paused  a  minute  or  so,  as 
if  thinking.     Then  suddenly  he  said  :  — 

"  You  understand,  of  course,  that  the  general 
purpose  of  this  expedition  has  been  perfectly 
honest.  We  are  permitted  by  the  government 
to  trade  in  a  restricted  way  with  the  people  of 
the  low  country,  in  order  that  they  may  have 
something  to  live  on,  and  in  order  that  the 
North's  great  need  of  cotton  for  its  mills  may 
be  met.  We  are  not  restricted  to  trade  strictly 
within  the  region  controlled  by  Northern  troops, 
but  are  permitted  to  go  pretty  much  anywhere 
we  can,  and  buy  cotton  there.  But  sometimes 
it  happens  that  our  men  find  cotton  for  which 
they  can  find  no  owner.  My  orders  have  been 
very  strict  that  all  such  cotton  should  be  left 
where  found,  and  that  none  should  be  taken 
on  board  any  of  the  steamers  except  such  as 
had  been  bought  and  paid  for.  But  you  under 
stand  how  difficult  it  has  been  for  me  to  secure 
strict  obedience  to  any  orders  in  this  respect, 
especially  as  I  have  had  to  go  away  in  my  canoe 
in  search  of  cotton  to  buy.  Often  I  have  been 
128 


"LYING    LIKE    A    GENTLEMAN" 

absent  from  the  steamboats  for  several  days  at 
a  time,  and  I  fear  that  in  my  absence  the  men 
have  sometimes  taken  cotton  that  hadn't  been 
bought." 

"  Of  course  that  would  happen  sometimes," 
answered  the  girl,  wondering  why  he  was  so 
carefully  explaining  all  these  things  to  her. 

"  Yes,  of  course.  But  I  am  not  only  in  com 
mand  of  this  expedition,  I  have  my  money  in 
vested  in  it.  I  am  a  partner  in  the  enterprise, 
and  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  have  had  no  part 
or  lot  in  anything  that  isn't  entirely  honest.  If 
there  has  been  any  stealing  of  cotton,  the  enter 
prise  must  gain  by  it,  and  I  must  share  the  gain. 
I  have  done  all  I  could  to  prevent  stealing, 
and  in  several  instances  I  have  compelled  res 
titution  when  I  have  found  out  about  such 
things." 

"Mr.  Marvin,"  interjected  the  girl,  "do  you 
imagine  for  one  moment  that  I  could  suspect 
you  of  any  dishonorable  practice  ?  Why  do  you 
tell  me  of  these  things  ?  " 

"Come  with  me,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  show 
you  why." 

129 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

With  that  he  led  the  way  to  the  main  deck, 
the  girl  walking  beside  him.  He  led  her  to  the 
five  cotton  bales  which  he  had  marked  and  sepa 
rated  from  all  the  rest. 

"  See  !  "  he  said.  "  I  have  been  going  over 
our  cargo  and  I  have  found  these  five  bales. 
You  will  observe  that  they  are  mud-stained, 
and  that  they  are  marked  with  the  letter  '  L ' 
enclosed  in  a  circle.  There  are  just  five  of 
them,  and  there  isn't  another  bale  on  board 
that  carries  that  mark.  Come !  Let  us  go 
back  to  the  boiler  deck." 

The  girl  was  in  a  daze.  This  was  a  piece  of 
good  fortune  of  which  her  fancy  could  never 
have  dreamed. 

When  the  two  were  seated  again,  Marvin 
said  :  — 

"This  discovery  is  a  joyous  one  to  me.  It 
completely  releases  you  from  all  possible  de 
pendence  upon  anybody." 

"You  are  very  good,"  she  answered.  "But 
you  can  never  know  or  imagine  how  much  this 
means  to  me.  What  were  the  bales  worth,  there 
on  the  bayou  ? " 

130 


"LYING    LIKE    A    GENTLEMAN" 

"  Oh,  anywhere  from  five  to  fifty  dollars 
apiece.  Probably  fifty  dollars,  if  we  had  bought 
them." 

"  How  much  would  that  be  for  the  five  ? " 
"Two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  But  what 
has  that  to  do  with  the  matter  ?  We  did  not 
buy  those  bales  of  you  on  the  bayou,  and  so  the 
bayou  price  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter. 
Whoever  buys  that  cotton  will  buy  it  at  Cairo, 
where  it  is  worth  about  eight  hundred  dollars  a 
bale,  or  about  four  thousand  dollars  in  all.  If 
you  will  leave  the  business  to  me,  I'll  sell  the 
cotton  for  you  and  hand  you  the  proceeds. 
Then  you  needn't  feel  yourself  a  dependent 
upon  anybody.  But  you  will  stay  with  my 
sister  as  her  guest,  of  course.  She  will  re 
joice  to  have  you,  and  as  you  are  now  able  to 
pay  for  your  own  gowns  and  bonnets,  you  will 
feel  no  humiliation  in  letting  her  enjoy  her 
favorite  pastime  of  superintending  the  con 
struction  of  a  young  woman's  outfit,  and  go 
ing  shopping  with  the  young  woman  for  those 
things  that  must  be  bought.  She  does  that 
for  all  the  nice  girls  in  the  town.  When  any 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

one  of  them  must  have  a  new  gown  made,  she 
orders  the  girl,  in  her  pleasant,  'fetching'  way, 
to  come  to  her.  At  the  same  time  she  sends 
for  the  dressmaker,  and  it  is  her  delight  to 
tyrannize  over  that  unfortunate  personage  until 
every  line  of  the  gown  is  to  her  liking  and 
every  seam  to  her  satisfaction.  I've  often  had 
to  lunch  alone  in  her  house  because  a  skirt 
didn't  'sit'  properly,  or  because  a  bit  of  lace 
or  silk  or  a  little  bow  of  ribbon  didn't  satisfy 
her  whimsical  majesty.  When  that  sort  of 
thing  happened,  she  would  order  the  carriage, 
and  she  and  the  girl  would  drive  together  to 
all  the  shops,  and  very  nearly  plague  the  life  out 
of  all  the  salesmen  until  the  fastidious  taste  of 
this  my  sister  was  satisfied.  Upon  my  soul,  I 
think  the  salesmen  liked  it.  You  see  Lida  — 
that's  my  pet  name  for  my  sister  —  is  so  genial 
and  cordial  and  full  of  jollity  that  the  shop  peo 
ple  enjoy  dealing  with  her.  I  never  went  shop 
ping  with  her  but  once,  and  then  I  came  away 
satisfied  that  every  young  jackanapes  among 
them  knew  from  the  beginning  what  she 
wanted,  but  held  it  back  as  long  as  possible 
132 


"LYING    LIKE    A    GENTLEMAN" 

in  order  to  prolong  the  pleasure  of  '  trading ' 
with  her.  Oh,  I'm  sure  you'll  fall  in  love 
with  that  sister  of  mine,  and  I  know  she'll 
fall  in  love  with  you." 

The  young  man  was  on  the  point  of  adding 
something  about  the  comeliness  of  the  young 
woman's  figure  and  the  delight  his  sister  would 
feel  in  "making  the  most  of  it,"  but  he  wisely 
refrained.  He  said  instead,  "You  must  know 
that  this  sister  of  mine  is  not  in  the  least  like 
me.  She  has  a  laughing  demon  in  her.  She 
sees  the  fun  in  everything  and  enjoys  every 
point  in  the  game.  She  can  be  serious  upon 
proper  occasions,  but  she  doesn't  find  many 
such  occasions,  thank  God.  Life  wears  a  smil 
ing  face  to  her.  She  and  her  children  are  the 
best  of  sworn  comrades.  I  have  seen  the  four 
of  them  swarming  over  her  at  once  —  one  in 
her  lap,  one  on  each  arm  of  her  rocking-chair 
with  heads  nestling  close  to  her  cheeks,  and 
one  climbing  up  the  back  of  the  chair  to  claim 
what  he  called  an  '  upsy  down  kiss,'  and  she 
would  be  'jollying'  each  of  them  in  turn,  cry 
ing  out  to  the  boy,  as  he  climbed  over  the  back 

'33 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

of  her  chair,  nearly  upsetting  her,  '  Give  a  fel 
low  a  chance,  John ! '  and  protesting  to  the 
three  swarming  girls  that  'we'll  all  have  to  go 
to  the  rag-bag  together,  if  you  don't  go  away 
and  let  me  finish  my  sewing.'  But  I  never 
knew  one  of  them  to  go  away  upon  such  remon 
strance.  Don't  you  think  it  is  to  a  woman's 
credit  when  her  children  love  her  in  that 
way?" 

"It  means  more  than  that,"  the  girl  an 
swered.  "  Children  who  have  such  a  mother 
will  never  go  very  far  astray.  I  am  sure  I  shall 
love  your  sister,  now  that  I  can  go  to  her  with 
out  feeling  myself  a  pauper.  And  how  I  shall 
delight  in  teaching  those  little  people  to  speak 
French  ! " 

With  that  the  girl,  relieved  now  of  all  that 
incubus  of  dependence  which  had  so  heavily 
weighed  upon  her  spirit,  literally  waltzed  away, 
singing  a  joyous  little  French  chanson  as  she 
went. 

"  It  involved  something  closely  akin  to  lying," 
thought  Hugh  Marvin,  as  he  saw  her  recede  from 
view  and  remembered  the  fiction  of  the  cotton 

'34 


"LYING    LIKE    A    GENTLEMAN" 

bales,  "  but  at  any  rate  it  was  '  lying  like  a  gen 
tleman  '  and  for  an  altogether  good  purpose. 
I'm  glad  I  did  it,  and  I'm  especially  glad  I  got 
through  with  it  so  well." 


135 


XIII 

A  "BUSINESS"  CONFERENCE 

OF  course  the  five  bales  of  cotton  which 
Hugh  Marvin  had  taken  out  of  his 
cargo  and  made  the  property  of  Gabri- 
elle  Latour  belonged  to  the  general  venture. 
There  was  nothing  for  him  to  do,  therefore,  as 
an  honest  man,  but  report  his  appropriation  of 
them  on  arrival  at  Cairo,  and  have  their  selling 
value  —  about  four  thousand  dollars  —  charged 
against  his  share  of  the  profits  of  the  expedition. 
He  was  glad  enough  to  do  this  although  it 
involved  a  very  considerable  reduction  of  his 
profit  from  the  enterprise,  and  he  was  not  yet 
a  rich  man.  In  truth,  he  would  willingly  have 
given  up,  not  only  all  his  profits  from  this  expe 
dition,  but  all  else  that  he  had  in  the  world,  if 
136 


A   "BUSINESS"    CONFERENCE 

that  had  been  necessary  to  save  Gabrielle  from 
humiliation  and  distress. 

When  he  thought  the  matter  over  and  realized 
this,  he  for  the  first  time  recognized  the  fact 
that  he  loved  Gabrielle  Latour  as  he  had  never 
imagined  himself  capable  of  loving  any  woman 
on  earth. 

"  I  have  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  to  the  good 
now,"  he  reflected,  as  he  thought  the  matter 
over,  "and  I  would  willingly  give  up  every  dol 
lar  of  it  just  to  spare  Gabrielle  a  moment's  em 
barrassment  ;  I  suppose  that  means  that  I  love 
her.  I  hadn't  thought  of  that,  and  it  seems  ab 
surd  in  view  of  the  slightness  and  brevity  of  our 
acquaintance.  But  it  is  a  fact,  nevertheless.  I 
would  impoverish  myself  for  her  sake  even  if 
there  were  no  remotest  prospect  of  winning  her 
to  be  my  wife,  which  I  mean  to  do  if  I  can." 

Then  he  thought  jealously  of  the  chances  of 
that.  He  was  troubled  by  the  reflection  that 
the  girl's  attitude  toward  him  seemed  to  be 
one  of  reverence  and  gratitude  rather  than  any 
more  encouraging  one.  He  had  begun  by  pity 
ing  the  sorely  beset  young  woman,  and  it  is 

137 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

true  that  "pity  is  akin  to  love,"  but  gratitude 
is  not,  and,  so  far  as  the  youth  could  discover, 
it  was  only  gratitude  that  she  felt  for  him. 
Perhaps  he  was  not  a  shrewd  observer;  certainly 
he  was  not  learned  in  woman's  ways.  If  he 
had  been  so  learned,  he  might  have  found  evi 
dence  of  something  other  and  better  than  grati 
tude  in  those  outbreaks  of  anger  and  resentment 
on  Gabrielle's  part  which  had  given  him  so 
much  pain.  Gratitude  does  not  prompt  anger 
and  resentment.  It  does  not  set  pride  in  arms 
or  awaken  supersensitiveness  to  self-defence. 
Love  does  so  always,  even  when  love  is  not  yet 
recognized  by  the  one  feeling  it. 

But  we  have  to  do  now  with  affairs.  When 
Marvin  reported  to  his  partners  his  appropria 
tion  of  five  carefully  selected  bales  and  asked 
that  their  value  at  Cairo  might  be  deducted 
from  his  share  of  the  expedition's  profits, 
Ezra  Brass's  curiosity  was  aroused.  He  won 
dered  why  Marvin  had  done  this  thing,  and  he 
was  not  long  in  finding  out.  He  learned  from 
the  steamboat  men  how  Marvin  had  hunted  for 
clay-stained  and  unmarked  bales ;  how  he  had 

138 


A    "BUSINESS"    CONFERENCE 

marked  them  by  night  with  his  own  hands  ; 
how  he  had  then  carefully  smeared  clay  stains 
over  the  markings  by  way  of  destroying  their 
newness  of  appearance  and  making  them  seem 
old  instead.  A  little  further  inquiry  informed 
him  that  the  bales  in  question  had  been  sold 
for  the  account  of  Gabrielle  Latour,  and  the 
proceeds  deposited  to  her  credit  in  Hallam's 
bank. 

Ezra  Brass  valued  himself  upon  knowing 
well  "  how  to  put  two  and  two  together  "  with 
confidence  in  the  result  of  the  addition.  So  he 
hugged  the  information  he  had  secured  and 
cherished  it  for  future  use.  "  My  time  will 
come,"  he  thought.  "  I'll  git  even  with  that 
there  young  feller  yit ;  I  must  wait  awhile,  but 
I'll  git  there  in  the  end." 

In  the  meanwhile,  however,  he  felt  it  to  be 
very  necessary  to  secure  Hugh  Marvin's  ser 
vices  for  the  new  expedition  he  was  planning, 
and  as  he  had  not  been  very  fortunate  of  late 
in  his  endeavors  to  converse  with  the  young 
man,  he  decided  to  have  a  little  meeting  of  those 
of  the  men  interested  with  him  who  happened 


to  be  in  Cairo  at  the  time,  and  to  have  another 
instead  of  himself  summon  Hugh  Marvin  to  the 
conference. 

The  meeting  was  held  one  evening  in  the 
parlor  of  the  bank  presided  over  by  Napoleon 
Tandry,  or  "  Napper  Tandry  "  as  he  was  more 
generally  called,  and  it  was  Tandry  who  asked 
Marvin  to  be  present.  He  had  wanted  Ezra 
Brass  to  send  the  invitation,  but  Brass  had 
answered  :  — 

"That  there  young  feller  is  a  good  deal  of  a 
buzz-saw  lately,  and  I  prefer  not  to  monkey  with 
buzz-saws  myself.  He  won't  listen  to  any 
thing  I  say.  It'll  be  a  good  deal  better  fer  you 
to  sort  o'  play  first  fiddle  in  this  thing.  So  you 
ask  him." 

"  Well,  if  he  is  hard  to  manage,  suppose  we 
leave  him  out  of  it  altogether." 

"Oh,  but  we  can't  do  without  him,"  answered 
Brass,  with  emphasis.  "  He  ain't  afeard  o' 
nothin'.  All  the  devils  can't  scare  him,  and  he 
knows  how  to  find  more  cotton  in  a  morning 
than  all  the  rest  of  us  could  find  in  a  week. 
There  ain't  nothin'  the  matter  with  him,  only 
140 


A    "BUSINESS"    CONFERENCE 

he's  sentimental  like,  and  fanciful.  You  see 
when  he  went  into  business  he  hadn't  a  carpet 
bag  to  put  his  clothes  into,  and  now  he'd  cut 
up  for  fifty  or  sixty  thousand,  —  possibly  eighty 
or  a  hundred  thousand,  —  so  he's  sort  o'  feelin' 
his  oats,  as  they  say  of  a  frisky  horse,  and  he 
particularly  don't  approve  of  me.  Him  and  me 
has  had  some  hot  words  lately.  But  we've 
simply  got  to  git  him  to  manage  this  thing  or 
it'll  go  to  the  bow-wows." 

So  Napper  Tandry  sent  a  very  suave  note  to 
Hugh  Marvin,  asking  him  to  "attend  a  little 
conference  of  business  men  for  the  discussion 
of  a  proposed  enterprise  which  seems  to  pre 
sent  peculiar  opportunities  for  profit."  And 
Hugh  Marvin  attended. 

It  was  Napper  Tandry  who  first  set  forth  the 
plan  of  the  expedition,  subject  at  every  third 
sentence  to  some  correction  from  the  real 
originator  of  the  scheme,  Ezra  Brass. 

"We  propose,  gentlemen,"  said  Tandry,  "to 
send  a  cotton-buying  fleet  up  a  certain  Southern 
river,  where  the  supplies  of  cotton  are  very 
great." 

141 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

"  How  far  up  ? "  asked  young  Marvin,  when 
told  what  river  it  was. 

"All  the  way  up,"  answered  the  other. 
"  You  see  there  is  not  only  a  world  of  cotton  to 
be  bought  there,  but  there  is  still  more  that 
belongs  to  the  Rebel  government,  and  that 
we  can  take  without  buying  it  at  all." 

Marvin  sat  still,  saying  nothing. 

"It's  the  biggest  thing  on  ice,"  continued 
Tandry.  "  It  spells  a  big  fortune  for  every 
man  who  is  permitted  to  participate  in  it. 
Now  what  do  you  say,  gentlemen  ?  What 
sums  will  each  of  you  invest  in  the  enter 
prise  ? " 

"  May  I  ask  a  question  or  two  ? "  asked 
Hugh  Marvin. 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Marvin  ;  we  want  you  with 
us,  of  course,  and  we  are  prepared,  I  think, 
gentlemen,"  —  everybody  nodded  approval,  — 
"  to  allow  you,  in  view  of  your  activity  and 
acumen,  double  the  share  of  profits  that  your 
investment  in  the  enterprise  would  call  for. 
We  value  your  services  more  than  your  money, 
Mr.  Marvin." 

142 


A    "BUSINESS"    CONFERENCE 

"Thank  you  for  your  good  opinion,"  said 
Hugh.  "  But  now  for  my  questions.  Do  you 
know  that  the  Rebels  are  up  in  that  country 
with  strong  military  forces  ? " 

"We  know  all  that,"  answered  Ezra  Brass, 
who  could  not  long  be  discreet  enough  to  let 
Tandry  manage  the  affair.  "  We  know  all  that ; 
but,  you  see,  we've  arranged  to  be  masters 
of  the  situation.  We've  'let  in'  a  general 
who  has  twenty  or  thirty  or  forty  thousand 
troops  under  his  command,  and  we've  'let 
in '  a  prominent  naval  officer.  I'm  naming  no 
names,  because  this  thing  is  confidential,  but 
when  we  send  our  fleet  up  the  river,  it  will 
be  on  a  'joint  account'  in  which  the  general 
and  the  naval  officer  are  partners  for  all  they 
are  worth.  When  our  boats  go  up  the  river, 
they  will  be  accompanied  by  a  fleet  of  gun 
boats  in  the  stream,  and  by  an  army  on  shore, 
quite  able  to  take  care  of  all  the  Rebels  there. 
We'll  have  nothin'  to  do  but  scoop  in  the 
cotton." 

"You  mean  then  that  you  have  corrupted 
a  general  and  a  high  officer  of  the  navy  to 

'43 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

help  you  in  a  gigantic  cotton-stealing  expedi 
tion  ? "  asked  Marvin. 

"It  ain't  stealin',''  answered  Brass,  ignoring 
the  reference  to  corruption.  "  You  see  most  of 
that  cotton  up  there  has  been  bought  by  the 
Rebel  government,  and  we're  simply  agoin'  to 
capture  it." 

"But,"  answered  Marvin,  who  spoke  with 
out  the  least  excitement  and  in  persuasively 
level  tones  that  completely  deceived  his  audi 
ence,  "  if  the  cotton  belongs  to  the  Confederate 
government,  and  is  captured  by  an  expedition 
under  a  Union  general  and  assisted  by  a 
Union  naval  fleet,  it  must  all  belong  to  the 
United  States  government,  must  it  not  ? " 

"  Well,  you  see,  we've  arranged  all  that  with 
the  officers  in  command  of  the  army  and 
fleet,"  answered  Brass,  hurriedly.  "This  thing 
is  done  on  joint  account,  and  both  the  general 
and  the  naval  commander  are  silent  partners 
in  it." 

Hugh  Marvin  stood  up,  and  with  an  unusually 
elaborate  courtesy  said :  — 

"  As  I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  turn  thief,  I 
144 


A   "BUSINESS"    CONFERENCE 

beg    to  withdraw   from  this  —  "he    hesitated, 
and  then  added  "  den.      I  will  have  no  part  in 
this  enterprise  of  plunder  and  robbery  of  the 
government.     Good  night !  " 
And  with  that  he  withdrew. 


XIV 


A  FAILURE   OF   NEGOTIATIONS 

HUGH  MARVIN  had  been   somewhat 
astonished  upon    entering   that    con 
ference  of    speculators    to    find  John 
Land  among  them. 

John  Land  was  a  man  twenty-eight  years  old 
or  so,  six  feet  two  in  height,  and  perfectly  well 
proportioned.  He  had  a  head  that  would  have 
attracted  the  statuary's  attention  instantly, 
and  a  form  that  accorded  with  the  head.  His 
face  was  handsome  in  an  extraordinary  degree, 
and  his  carriage  was  that  of  a  king  or  a  con 
queror.  He  had  a  smiling  countenance  and  an 
optimistic  manner  that  would  have  inspired 
instant  confidence  in  any  stranger.  In  person 
he  was  a  cross  between  Apollo  and  Hercules, 
and  in  his  bearing  he  was  a  combination  of 
the  frank,  free-hearted  boy  with  the  skilled 
and  experienced  diplomatist. 
146 


A    FAILURE    OF    NEGOTIATIONS 

But  there  was  nothing  in  John  Land's  history 
to  support  his  appearance  or  his  manner,  or  to 
account  for  his  presence  in  such  a  company 
of  capitalists  as  this.  Hugh  Marvin  knew,  or 
thought  he  knew,  all  about  the  young  man's 
career.  He  had  come  to  Cairo  a  year  or  so 
before  the  time  we  are  now  considering.  He 
had  entered  Hallam's  service  as  a  petty  clerk 
on  the  levee,  charged  with  no  more  important 
duties  than  the  counting  of  barrels,  bags,  or 
bales,  as  they  were  passed  from  the  shore  to 
lading  steamboats  or  from  unlading  steamboats 
to  the  shore. 

Slowly  —  far  more  slowly  than  would  have 
been  the  case  if  the  sagacious  Captain  Will 
Hallam  had  fully  trusted  him — he  had  risen 
to  the  post  of  shipping  clerk  in  the  Hallam 
service.  Then  suddenly  he  had  left  that  ser 
vice  for  reasons  known  only  to  Captain  Hallam 
and  himself.  It  was  one  of  Captain  Hallam's 
rules,  as  he  picturesquely  put  it,  "  never  to 
bother  with  a  bad  tooth  after  it  is  extracted." 
So  Captain  Hallam  never  told  anybody  why 
he  had  dispensed  with  the  services  of  John 

J47 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Land,  and  John  Land  offered  no  explanation 
to  anybody.  Another  of  Captain  Hallam's 
rules  of  conduct  was  "  never  to  advertise  my 
losses  even  if  the  fellow  gets  away  with  the 
combination  of  my  safe." 

Up  to  the  time  when  Hugh  Marvin  had 
gone  South  in  charge  of  the  expedition  whose 
work  was  just  finished,  John  Land  had  certainly 
had  no  money.  He  had  brought  none  to  Cairo. 
He  had  never  earned  more  than  a  clerk's  sal 
ary  while  in  the  Hallam  service,  and  he  had  lived 
much  too  expensively  to  have  accumulated  any 
thing  by  saving ;  nevertheless,  he  was  one  of 
this  company  of  capitalists  gathered  to  plan 
a  very  costly  expedition,  and  a  day  or  two 
later  Hugh  Marvin  learned  that  he  was  invest 
ing  a  good  many  thousands  of  dollars  in  the 
venture. 

The  information  came  from  John  Land  him 
self,  and  this  was  the  way  of  it.  When  Hugh 
Marvin  quitted  the  conference  in  disgust,  it 
was  the  general  sentiment  of  the  little  group 
that  by  some  means  or  other  his  cooperation 
simply  must  be  secured.  Ezra  Brass,  who 
148 


A    FAILURE    OF    NEGOTIATIONS 

knew  more  about  the  business  than  anybody 
else,  was  particularly  insistent  upon  this  neces 
sity. 

"I  don't  like  the  feller  for  a  cent,"  he  said, 
"but  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  if  we  don't  git 
him  with  us,  we'll  go  to  pot.  I've  been  along 
with  several  of  these  here  expeditions,  and  none 
o'  the  rest  of  you  has.  I  know  what  is  neces 
sary  to  success  in  'em,  an'  I  tell  you  the  first 
figger  in  the  sum  is  Hugh  Marvin.  You  kin 
potter  around  up  an'  down  them  there  bayous 
and  rivers  and  creeks  till  the  cows  come  home, 
and  never  git  enough  cotton  to  plug  up  your 
ears  with,  and  you're  likely  to  get  your  steam 
boats  sunk  into  the  bargain.  If  you've  got 
Hugh  Marvin,  you'll  get  cotton.  He's  got  a 
nose  for  it  as  keen  as  a  hound's  for  rabbits, 
and  I  tell  you  he  ain't  afraid  to  go  after  it 
neither.  He'll  snoop  around  and  take  the 
resks  where  nobody  else  would  think  of  darin' 
to  ventur'.  I  tell  you  we  must  git  him.  I 
s'pose  he's  sort  o'  standin'  out  fer  a  bigger 
price.  I  had  to  pay  him  ten  thousand  out  o' 
the  general  fund  for  this  last  trip,  to  say 
149 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

nothin'  of  his  interest  in  the  proceeds  o'  the 
transaction.  But  he  was  wuth  it  all  an'  more, 
twice  over.  I've  an  idea  that  our  best  plan  will 
be  to  git  Mr.  Land  to  see  him  an'  talk  things 
over  with  him,  an'  then  offer  him  a  flat  twenty- 
five  thousan'  as  a  salary  fer  his  services,  an'  at 
the  same  time  let  him  put  his  money  in  along 
with  ours  on  the  ground  floor  like.  That's  the 
only  way  we  kin  git  him,  an'  we'd  as  well 
reconcile  ourselves  with  the  environment,  as 
the  fox  said  when  the  hounds  was  a-barkin'  in 
a  circle  all  around  him." 

The  "sense  of  the  meeting"  seemed  to 
accord  with  Ezra  Brass's  suggestion,  and  so 
it  came  about  that  John  Land  —  suave,  smooth, 
plausible,  and  full  of  persuasiveness  —  called 
upon  Hugh  Marvin  the  next  day. 

The  conference  resulted  in  nothing,  except 
in  acquainting  Hugh  Marvin  with  the  fact  that 
John  Land  had  suddenly  become  possessed  of 
more  money  than  Marvin  believed  he  could 
ever  have  acquired  honestly.  He  ended  the 
interview  at  last  by  saying  to  Land  :  — 

"Tell  the  gentlemen  for  whom  you  are  act- 
150 


ing  that  I  will  not  accompany  their  cotton- 
stealing  expedition  on  any  terms  they  can 
offer.  Say  to  them  that  they  haven't  money 
enough  and  never  will  have  money  enough 
to  tempt  me  into  such  an  enterprise.  You 
may  put  it  strongly  without  the  least  fear 
of  exaggeration.  You  may  say  to  them  that 
I  wouldn't  go  in  charge  of  their  expedition  if 
they  were  to  offer  me  all  the  cotton  they  get 
and  all  the  steamboats  that  carry  it,  as  the 
price  of  my  services.  Now  go,  and  don't  come 
bothering  me  any  further  about  a  business  with 
which  I  will  have  nothing  whatever  to  do.  Go ! 
I  say  ! " 

And  he  held  the  door  open  till  Land  had 
passed  through  it,  after  which  he  suddenly 
slammed  it  and  double  locked  it  as  if  in  fear 
that  the  man  might  return. 

For  the  sake  of  historical  completeness  it 
may  as  well  be  recorded  here  that  the  expedi 
tion  went  upon  its  mission ;  that  it  secured 
very  little  cotton  for  the  speculators  ;  that  the 
army  sent  for  its  protection  was  so  badly 
broken  and  beaten  that  on  its  return  it  had 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

to  hug  all  the  bends  of  the  river  by  way  of 
keeping  itself  under  protection  of  the  gun 
boats  that  were  also  engaged  in  escorting  the 
expeditionary  fleet. 

The  ledgers  of  the  commercial  firm  which 
organized  the  enterprise  showed  at  its  con 
clusion  a  heavy  loss  to  pretty  nearly  everybody 
concerned  except  the  naval  officer,  the  field 
general,  and  the  office  general  in  Washington 
who  had  made  themselves  responsible  for  its 
conduct.  These  three  had  been  guaranteed 
their  profits  by  the  speculators  in  any  case, 
and  the  speculators,  with  a  finer  sense  of  honor 
than  might  have  been  expected  in  such  a  case, 
paid  over  those  profits,  themselves  pocketing 
the  losses. 


152 


XV 

AN   EPISODE   OF   INKSTANDS 

HUGH    MARVIN  had  not  lived  much 
in  Cairo.     He  had  lived,  as  he  said  to 
Gabrielle   Latour,  wherever  his  busi 
ness  had  called  him. 

He  had  rather  avoided  Cairo  in  fact.  His 
brother-in-law,  Captain  Will  Hallam,  had  estab 
lished  himself  there  some  years  before  and  had 
quickly  become  a  dominant  force  in  the  com 
merce  of  the  West.  If  Hugh  Marvin  had  been 
a  man  of  the  ordinary  sort,  he  would  have  gone 
to  Cairo,  where  the  prosperous  and  over-busy 
husband  of  his  sister  could  and  would  have 
given  him,  not  only  employment,  but  every 
opportunity,  also,  for  the  advancement  of  his 
fortunes.  But  Hugh  Marvin  was  eccentric. 
He  had  a  strong  desire  to  build  up  his  fortunes, 
but  he  had  no  mind  to  have  them  built  up  by 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

anybody  else.  He  had  nothing  to  start  with, 
but  he  resolutely  declined  to  ask  anything  from 
anybody's  favor. 

So  instead  of  going  to  Cairo,  he  had  gone  to 
St.  Louis.  There  he  had  secured  employment 
at  the  lowest  possible  wages.  This  had  slowly 
developed  into  employment  of  a  better  kind  at 
higher  wages.  The  young  man  had  realized 
from  the  first  that,  in  commerce  and  in  affairs, 
money  to  work  with  is  the  most  essential  tool  of 
the  trade.  He  learned  to  know  many  old  ship 
ping  clerks,  bookkeepers,  and  the  like,  who  had 
been  all  their  lives  faithfully  drudging  in  the 
service,  but  who,  after  all  those  years  of  work, 
had  not  a  dollar  that  they  could  call  their  own. 

Why  were  not  these  men  independent  mer 
chants  ?  he  asked  himself.  Why  were  they  not 
engaged  in  commerce  on  their  own  account, 
instead  of  being  the  inadequately  salaried 
servants  of  other  men  ? 

The  answer  was  ready  to  his  hand.  These 
men  had  not  saved  anything  out  of  their  earn 
ings.  The  fact  was  not  greatly  to  their  dis 
credit,  perhaps,  seeing  that  their  earnings  were 

154 


AN    EPISODE  OF   INKSTANDS 

so  small  and  that  most  of  them  were  married 
men  with  families  to  maintain.  But  the  fact 
carried  a  lesson  to  Hugh  Marvin's  mind.  He 
saw  clearly  that  most  of  the  independent  mer 
chants  about  him  were  in  no  moral  or  men 
tal  way  the  superiors  of  the  men  they  were 
hiring  at  small  wages  to  conduct  their  business 
for  them.  The  difference  lay  only  in  the  fact 
that  the  independent  merchants  —  many  of 
them  very  shaky  in  their  credit  —  had  begun 
by  getting  a  few  thousands  ahead  as  a  capital 
with  which  to  work,  while  the  clerks  to  whom 
they  paid  wages  were  accustomed  to  spend 
their  earnings  as  fast  as  they  received  them  and 
to  have  nothing  at  the  end  of  the  month. 

Hugh  Marvin  was  quick  to  comprehend  a 
lesson  of  this  character.  Small  as  his  wage  was 
at  that  time,  he  determined  to  save  half  of  it, 
and  he  did  so.  He  hunted  up  another  young 
man  like-minded  with  himself,  and  joining 
forces,  they  two  rented  for  next  to  nothing  a 
little  room  in  a  warehouse,  which  otherwise 
would  have  waited  long  for  a  tenant.  They  put 
into  it  a  bed,  a  washstand  of  cheap  construction, 

J55 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

two  inexpensive  chairs,  a  pine  table,  and  noth 
ing  else.  They  took  their  meals  at  cheap  eating 
houses  along  the  levee,  —  rarely  spending  more 
than  ten  cents  for  any  meal,  —  and  so  at  the 
end  of  a  year,  Hugh  Marvin  had  a  small  work 
ing  capital,  to  which  he  added  rapidly,  for  the 
reason  that,  thanks  to  his  industry,  capacity, 
and  devotion  to  duty,  his  salary  had  been  in 
creased  several  fold,  while  his  living  expense 
had  not  been  increased  at  all. 

Then  Hugh  Marvin  had  begun  a  career  of 
his  own,  and  he  had  begun  it  badly  by  taking 
employment  from  Ezra  Brass  at  a  much  smaller 
wage  than  the  work  and  the  man  deserved. 
He  had  soon  discovered  that  mistake,  however, 
and  had  corrected  it.  He  accurately  esti 
mated  the  value  of  his  services  to  Brass,  and 
he  insisted  upon  being  paid  accordingly.  More 
important  still,  when  these  cotton-buying  ex 
peditions  were  undertaken,  and  he  saw  how 
indispensable  his  services  were  to  their  success, 
he  forced  Brass  to  give  him  a  partner's  interest 
in  the  ventures. 

Thus,  within  a  comparatively  brief  while, 
156 


AN    EPISODE    OF    INKSTANDS 

Hugh  Marvin  had  secured  the  tools  of  mercan 
tile  success. 

Now  had  come  to  him  the  opportunity  to 
secure  wealth  quickly.  For  he  saw  clearly  how 
he  could,  with  ease  and  certainty,  make  the 
proposed  expedition  successful  in  a  sufficient 
degree  to  secure  for  himself  a  very  large  money 
return  over  and  above  the  twenty-five-thousand- 
dollar  salary  offered  him  by  Brass  and  his  asso 
ciates. 

This  opportunity  he  had  deliberately  thrown 
away  upon  the  same  principle  that  prompts 
an  honest  man  to  refrain  from  robbing  a  till 
when  it  lies  temptingly  open  and  there  is 
nobody  at  hand  to  interfere. 

But  having  declined  to  engage  in  further 
service  with  Brass,  Hugh  Marvin  must  find 
something  else  to  do.  He  had  a  good  working 
capital  now,  and  so  he  decided  to  set  up  a 
commission  and  forwarding  business  of  his 
own  at  Cairo. 

How  far  the  fact  of  Gabrielle's  presence  in 
Cairo  determined  him  in  the  selection  of  the 
little  Illinois  city  as  the  scene  of  his  further 

157 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

activities,  it  would  probably  have  puzzled  even 
himself  to  determine.  However  that  may  have 
been,  he  set  up  an  office  and  a  warehouse  and 
a  wharf  boat  there,  sent  his  circulars  broadcast 
to  shippers  all  over  the  land  —  to  men  at  the 
North  who  had  grain  or  meats  or  flour  to  sell 
South,  and  to  men  at  the  South  who  had  cot 
ton  to  market  at  the  North.  His  acquaintance 
being  wide  and  his  reputation  high,  he  was 
soon  in  possession  of  a  business  that  employed 
dozens  of  clerks  and  scores  of  lesser  helpers. 

Soon  after  the  great  cotton-stealing  expedi 
tion  started, — for  John  Land  did  not  risk  his 
personal  safety  by  going  with  it, — John  Land 
went  to  Marvin,  proposing  to  put  money  into 
the  young  man's  business,  to  become  a  partner 
in  it,  and  to  enlarge  it  in  many  ways  that  were 
open  to  him. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  Hugh  Marvin 
was  an  extremely  courteous  person,  delicately 
considerate  of  other  people's  feelings.  But 
under  certain  circumstances  he  was  apt  to 
trample  upon  the  feelings  of  other  people  with 
hob-nailed  boots,  grinding  the  heels  thereof 
158 


AN    EPISODE    OF    INKSTANDS 

into  the  very  faces  of  his  victims.  That  was 
because  he  had  no  toleration  in  that  clean  soul 
of  his  for  any  form  of  dishonesty,  and  further 
because  he  had  no  sense  of  fear  to  restrain 
him  from  speaking  the  thought  that  was  in 
him,  so  soon  as  he  knew  that  thought  to  be 
based  upon  fact. 

So  when  John  Land  proposed  to  "put  money 
into  the  business,"  Hugh  Marvin  quietly 
asked  :  — 

"Whose  money  ?  " 

"  Why,  my  own,  of  course." 

"  Where  did  you  get  it  ? " 

"Why,  I  have  made  it  in  business,  of  course." 

"  Might  I  inquire  what  particular  kind  of 
dishonest  business  you  have  been  engaged  in 
while  I  have  been  away  ? " 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir?"  asked  Land,  ris 
ing  to  his  full  height  and  advancing  as  if  to 
intimidate  the  young  Kentuckian. 

"  Pray  be  seated,"  answered  Hugh  Marvin, 
"  and  preserve  whatever  you  can  of  calmness. 
We  can  discuss  matters  better  in  that  way." 

Land    subsided   into   his  chair  as  if   Marvin 

159 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

had  physically  forced  him  to  do  so.  Then 
Marvin  said  :  — 

"You  see  it  is  all  very  simple.  I  have  been 
away  less  than  two  months.  When  I  went 
away  you  were  in  the  employ  of  my  brother- 
in-law,  Captain  Will  Hallam,  at  a  small  salary. 
You  were  living  much  more  expensively  than 
your  salary  justified.  You  were  —  " 

"  My  personal  expenditures  are  none  of  your 
business,  Hugh  Marvin,"  interrupted  the 
other. 

"  Ordinarily,"  answered  Marvin,  lolling  back 
in  his  office  chair,  "that  would  be  perfectly 
true.  But  when  you  come  to  me  proposing 
to  make  of  yourself  my  partner  in  business, 
with  all  the  power  that  a  partner  has  to  ruin 
his  associates,  I  have  both  the  right  and  the 
duty  to  inquire  into  all  matters  that  tend  to 
illustrate  your  character." 

"  I  will  talk  with  you  no  further,"  interrupted 
Land.  "Your  brother-in-law,  Will  Hallam,  has 
prejudiced  you  against  me." 

"It is  of  no  consequence,"  said  Marvin,  "but 
as  a  more  or  less  interesting  matter  of  fact  I 
160 


AN    EPISODE    OF    INKSTANDS 

may  truthfully  state  that  my  brother-in-law, 
Captain  Will  Hallam,  has  never  mentioned 
your  name  within  my  hearing." 

"  Then  you  got  your  information  from  that 
cat,  his  wife." 

Instantly,  Hugh  Marvin  flung  an  inkstand 
into  the  man's  face,  and  he  followed  up  the 
assault  so  vigorously  that  before  Land  reached 
the  bottom  of  the  stairs  in  his  hurried  retreat, 
there  wasn't  an  inkstand  left  on  any  of  the 
dozen  or  so  desks  in  Hugh  Marvin's  office. 

During  this  little  skirmish  Hugh  Marvin  had 
spoken  no  word,  either  by  way  of  expletive  or 
otherwise.  It  was  his  habit  to  say  nothing 
when  he  was  engaged  in  doing  things. 

When  all  was  over,  he  turned  to  the  office 
boy  and  very  quietly  said  :  — 

"  You'd  better  go  down  to  Blelock's  and 
get  some  inkstands.  Be  a  little  bit  in  a  hurry, 
please,  as  these  gentlemen  at  the  desks  are 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  write." 

In  the  meanwhile  young  Land,  who  had 
rather  prematurely  attired  himself  that  spring 
day  in  a  suit  of  white  duck,  with  a  full-bosomed 
161 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

bishop's-lawn  shirt,  hurried  to  his  hotel,  avoid 
ing  observation  so  far  as  that  was  possible. 
But  enough  people  saw  his  ink-bedraggled 
presentment  to  make  it  certain  that  some  part 
of  the  story  would  become  known  to  Ezra 
Brass.  That  astute  person,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of  the  affair,  chuckled  audibly.  It 
promised  him  an  opportunity  and  an  ally  in 
the  matter  of  "getting  even." 


162 


XVI 

FRENCH   AND   HORSESHOES 

DURING  all  this  time    Hugh  Marvin's 
relations   with    Gabrielle    Latour   had 
in  no  way  changed  for  the  better  as 
he  regarded  the  better.     He  saw  much  of  her, 
and  in  pleasant  ways,  but  so  far  as  his  acumen 
could  make  out,  it  was  still  only  gratitude  that 
she  felt  for  him  —  not  love  in  the  lover's  sense 
of  that  word. 

He  was  too  conscientious  a  business  man  to 
give  up  to  his  own  or  other  people's  pleasure 
any  of  the  hours  that  he  felt  himself  bound  to 
devote  to  the  interests  of  those  clients  of  his, 
all  over  the  country,  who  intrusted  their  com 
mercial  affairs  to  him  as  a  commission  merchant. 
If  he  did  not  usually  appear  in  his  office  before 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  though  he  re 
quired  his  clerks  to  be  at  their  desks  at  seven, 
163 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

and  if  sometimes  he  postponed  his  appearance 
there  until  nine,  it  was  only  because  the  time 
between  seven  and  nine  brought  with  it  nothing 
of  business  that  required  his  personal  attention. 
He  employed  competent  young  men  as  his 
clerks,  paying  them  the  wages  of  competent 
men,  and  they  had  no  need  of  his  instructions 
in  the  early  morning  hours,  which  were  wholly 
given  up  to  clerical  work  in  settlement  of  the 
preceding  day's  activities. 

Once  or  twice  a  week,  indeed.  Hugh  Marvin 
was  apt  to  be  in  the  office  very  early  —  before 
seven.  But  that  was  for  the  sake  of  discipline. 
As  nobody  in  the  office  could  ever  know  on 
what  morning  or  at  what  moment  he  might 
make  one  of  these  early  appearances,  every 
clerk  in  his  employ  felt  it  to  be  a  matter  of 
personal  interest  to  be  at  his  desk  when  the 
clock  struck  seven. 

As  the  business  involved  the  shipment  of 
freight  in  large  quantities  by  steamboats,  and 
as  steamboats  were  quite  as  apt  to  arrive  during 
the  night  as  at  any  other  time,  Hugh  Marvin's 
office  was  never  closed.  There  were  certain 
164 


FRENCH    AND    HORSESHOES 

of  the  clerks,  and  especially  the  shipping  clerks, 
who  must  be  at  their  desks  throughout  the 
night.  It  frequently  happened,  therefore,  that 
Hugh  Marvin  visited  the  office  at  one,  two,  or 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

In  brief,  here  was  the  typical  man  of  busi 
ness,  who  kept  his  eye  and  hand  upon  the 
affairs  under  his  control  without  making  him 
self  a  slave  to  his  own  routine. 

He  allowed  himself  a  good  deal  of  leisure, 
though  he  did  not  take  that  leisure  at  any  stated 
time  or  at  anything  like  regular  intervals. 
When  he  left  his  office,  whether  by  day  or  by 
night,  nobody  there  could  guess  when  he  would 
enter  it  again.  It  might  be  that  he  would  come 
back  within  the  quarter  hour,  or  he  might  not 
appear  again  during  the  next  twenty-four  hours. 
On  one  occasion  he  made  a  business  trip  of 
a  week's  duration  to  New  York,  and  nobody 
in  his  office  knew,  until  he  returned,  that  he 
had  been  absent  from  the  city. 

Sometimes,  late  in  the  summer  afternoons, 
he  would  mount  his  horse,  —  for,  Kentuckian 
that  he  was,  he  always  kept  a  steed  in  waiting 
165 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

as  his  only  means  of  locomotion, — and  gallop 
to  his  sister's  beautiful  home,  far  up-town, 
there  to  engage  in  a  game  of  croquet  on  the 
lawn,  or  a  romping  frolic  with  his  little  nephew 
and  nieces.  At  any  rate  it  was  for  such  sake 
that  he  persuaded  himself  that  these  visits  were 
paid. 

Gabrielle  had  by  this  time  become  com 
pletely  domesticated  in  the  house.  She  and 
Marvin's  sister,  Mrs.  Hallam,  had  become  the 
most  devoted  of  friends,  and  as  for  the  chil 
dren,  their  affection  for  Gabrielle  had  begun 
well-nigh  to  rival  their  devotion  to  their  fas 
cinating  mother.  And  Gabrielle  had  changed 
in  many  ways  also.  She  had  lost  the  pallor 
and  the  sunken-eyed  appearance  that  had  at 
first  awakened  the  pity  of  Hugh  Marvin.  Now 
that  she  was  again  with  people  about  her  whom 
she  could  love,  and  especially  now  that  she 
no  longer  felt  herself  the  recipient  of  charity 
from  any  source,  she  had  become  happy  again, 
in  spite  of  the  gentle  melancholy  that  survived 
concerning  the  death  of  those  that  had  been 
nearest  and  dearest  to  her  in  her  own  child- 
166 


FRENCH    AND    HORSESHOES 

hood.  Happiness  had  wrought  its  broidery 
upon  her  countenance,  making  her,  Hugh 
Marvin  thought,  more  beautiful  than  ever. 
Her  step  had  taken  on  a  new  elasticity.  All 
her  motions,  while  still  preserving  the  languor 
ous  ease  and  grace  of  the  South,  were  quick 
ened  and  vivified. 

A  certain  little  rippling  laugh  that  had  been 
crushed  out  of  her  soul  at  the  time  when 
Hugh  Marvin  had  first  met  her  had  now  come 
back,  and  it  seemed  fascinating,  not  only  to 
him,  but  to  all  others  who  came  into  contact 
with  the  girl.  It  was  hardly  a  laugh.  It  bore 
no  resemblance  to  a  giggle.  It  was  merely  a 
sort  of  ripple  of  joyousness  that  pervaded  her 
speech,  the  echo  of  gladness  within  her  soul. 

Nothing  that  Hugh  Marvin  had  learned  to 
love  in  her  had  gone  from  her,  or  in  the  least 
diminished.  Her  soft,  rich,  contralto  voice 
continued  to  be  music  in  all  ears  that  listened, 
and  her  Southern  accent,  emphasized  a  bit  by 
her  lifelong  habit  of  speaking  French  about  half 
the  time,  was  a  fascination.  Add  that  little 
half-laughing  ripple,  which  could  be  instantly 
167 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE   SOUTH 

altered  upon  occasion  to  an  expression  of  in 
effable  tenderness  and  sympathy,  and  it  is  no 
wonder  that  all  who  came  into  contact  with 
Gabrielle  Latour  fell  to  loving  her,  and  could 
not  help  themselves. 

In  the  transformation,  or  the  restoration 
rather,  which  had  thus  been  wrought  by  her 
new  environment,  Gabrielle  had  lost  none  of 
her  old  honesty  of  purpose,  none  of  her  old 
fearless  frankness  of  thought  and  utterance. 
It  had  been  her  practice  to  talk  with  the  chil 
dren  in  nothing  but  French,  and,  after  they 
had  acquired  facility,  she  permitted  them  to 
use  only  that  tongue  in  converse  with  her.  If 
one  of  them  so  far  forgot  as  to  address  her  in 
English,  she  would  look  at  the  child  as  if  not 
understanding,  and  wonderingly  ask  in  French : 
"  What  is  it  that  you  say  to  me,  dear  ?  " 

In  accordance  with  the  habit  thus  bred,  one 
of  the  children  one  day  addressed  Hugh  Mar 
vin  in  French.  He  knew  enough  of  French 
to  reply  in  that  tongue  with  what  might  be 
called  the  blue-grass  accent.  Instantly  Ga 
brielle  said  to  him  :  — 
168 


FRENCH    AND    HORSESHOES 

"Oh,  but  you  must  not  do  that,  Mr.  Mar 
vin.  You  must  not  address  the  child  in  your 
very  badly  pronounced  French.  You  will  cor 
rupt  her  ear  and  sadly  mislead  her." 

It  was  the  teacher  in  her  that  prompted  that 
utterance.  Something  else  in  her  prompted 
her  to  blush  violently,  and  to  offer  a  staggering 
apology. 

"  I  beg  that  you  will  not  apologize,"  said 
Hugh,  seeing  her  confusion.  "You  are  per 
fectly  right.  My  French  is  such  as  was  taught 
me  in  school.  I  suppose  I  might  manage 
somehow  to  make  my  wants  known  with  it  if 
I  were  in  France,  and  if  I  spoke  only  to  gently 
considerate  people.  But  now  that  you  are 
teaching  these  youngsters  to  speak  French 
with  a  pure  accent,  it  is  certainly  very  desir 
able  that  I  should  not  corrupt  their  ears  or 
debauch  their  understandings  by  indulging  in 
such  jargon  as  I  have  at  command." 

Then,  instantly,  and  as  if  to  avoid  a  pause 
and  avert  a  further  apology,  the  young  man 
broke  into  another  subject. 

"  My  sister  tells   me,"   he   said,   "  that   you 
169 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

are  a  very  early  riser,  as  I  have  observed  that 
most  Southern  young  women  are." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  eagerly.  "  It  seems 
to  me  too  bad  to  waste  the  superb  early  morn 
ing  in  bed.  I  love  the  sunrise  and  the  dew, 
and  above  all,  the  odors  of  the  dawn.  I  am 
always  ready  to  say  '  Good  morning '  to  the 
sun  when  it  shows  itself  above  the  horizon." 

"  But  at  this  time  of  year  the  sun  rises 
about  half-past  four." 

"A  little  later  this  month,"  she  answered. 
"  But  I  am  out  of  bed  at  four,  —  the  moment 
daylight  begins  to  show  itself,  —  and  so  I  am 
always  ready  to  meet  the  sun  as  soon  as  he  has 
had  his  bath  in  the  dew." 

"  Early  rising  is  one  of  the  good  habits  of 
Southern  young  women,"  he  said.  "  Another 
is  a  love  of  horseback  riding.  I  wonder  if  you 
have  that  also." 

"  Oh,  yes  !  "  she  answered  with  enthusiasm. 
"All  my  life  I  have  loved  the  saddle.  Even 
as  a  little  child  I  was  accustomed  to  ride.  In 
New  Orleans  I  used  to  ride  with  my  father 
to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  or  down  the  river 
170 


FRENCH   AND    HORSESHOES 

half  a  dozen  miles,  every  morning.  When  I 
was  in  Paris,  I  rode  in  the  Bois  every  day, 
though  the  good  mother  of  the  convent 
thought  it  a  sinful  self-indulgence.  On  the 
plantation  I  almost  lived  upon  horseback  un 
til  all  the  horses  were  taken  away  to  serve 
in  the  army." 

"Good!"  the  young  man  cried.  "Then 
you  know  how  to  ride  a  horse  that  has 
some  spirit  ? " 

"  I  think  I  can  ride  any  horse,"  she  an 
swered,  not  with  a  boastful  tone,  but  merely 
as  one  who  states  a  simple  fact. 

"  Good  again  !  "  said  he.  "  If  you  will  do 
me  the  honor  to  ride  with  me, — you  see  I 
ride  every  morning  before  breakfast,  —  I  will 
call  for  you  at  as  nearly  sunrise  as  may 
be.  Then  we'll  greet  the  morning  to 
gether.  There  are  really  good  roads  and 
bridle-paths  around  Cairo  when  one  knows 
where  to  find  them." 

"  But  what  about  horses  ? "  asked  the    girl. 

"  I'm  a  Kentuckian,  you  know,"  he  said 
in  reply.  "  I'm  rather  given  to  the  keeping 
171 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

of  such  horses  as  I  need,  and  I'll  bring  for 
your  use  about  the  most  beautiful  mare  you 
ever  saw.  She's  a  light  bay,  —  just  off  the  sor 
rel,  —  seventeen  hands  high,  perfectly  formed, 
and  with  a  coat  as  smooth  and  glossy  as 
satin.  She  is  as  full  of  spirit  as  the  sunrise 
itself,  but  utterly  without  vices  or  ill  tem 
pers." 

Such  is  human  veracity  !  Every  word  that 
Hugh  Marvin  had  spoken  was  perfectly  true. 
Yet  he  had  purposely  conveyed  the  impression 
that  he  already  owned  the  beautiful  animal 
which  he  intended  to  dedicate  to  Gabrielle's 
service.  In  fact  he  had  been  for  a  week  in 
fruitless  negotiation  for  her.  He  had  not 
bought  her,  partly  because  he  had  had  no 
real  need  of  her  for  his  own  use,  and  partly 
because  the  dealer  who  had  her  for  sale  asked 
what  Hugh  Marvin  deemed  an  extravagant 
price  for  her. 

There  is  so  great  a  difference  between  truth 

and  mere  fact  that  perhaps  we  may  justly  hold 

the  young  man  guiltless  of  prevarication  in  this 

instance.     As  a  matter  of  mere  fact,  Hugh  Mar- 

172 


FRENCH    AND    HORSESHOES 

vin  did  not  own  the  loftily  pedigreed  mare  that 
he  wanted  Gabrielle  Latour  to  ride  the  next 
morning;  but  as  a  matter  of  living  truth,  he 
intended  to  own  her  before  the  next  morning 
should  come.  It  amounted,  he  thought,  to  the 
same  thing,  and  perhaps  it  did. 

To  the  end  that  he  might  own  her,  he  took  a 
hasty  leave  and  went  at  once  to  the  stable  of 
the  dealer. 

That  astute  personage  saw  at  a  glance  that 
the  young  man  had  made  up  his  mind  to  buy 
the  mare,  and  so  he  adhered  to  the  price  he 
had  already  fixed  upon  the  beautiful  creature. 
He  had  meant  to  "shade  "  it  a  little  in  order  to 
make  the  sale.  But  when  he  discovered  the  in 
tensity  of  Hugh  Marvin's  purpose  to  buy,  he 
dismissed  that  idea  as  wholly  unbusinesslike, 
and  even  debated  with  himself  whether  he 
ought  not  to  increase  his  figures.  Fearing 
that  Marvin's  business  instincts  might  in  that 
case  penetrate  his  policy,  he  wisely  refrained, 
saying :  — 

"The  price  I  have  given  you,  Mr.  Marvin, 
is  really  too  small.  Considering  the  filly's 

173 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

pedigree  and  her  beauty  and  strength  and  all 
that,  I  ought  to  have  asked  you  at  least  a 
hundred  more.  But  I'm  a  man  of  my  word, 
Mr.  Marvin ;  I've  given  you  a  price,  and  if  you 
choose  to  take  the  mare  at  that  price  to-day, 
you  shall  have  her.  But  I  don't  promise  for 
to-morrow.  I  reserve  the  right  to  raise  the 
figures  after  to-day." 

This  eloquence  had  no  effect  whatever  upon 
Hugh  Marvin.  He  had  long  ago  learned  that 
the  word  "truth"  is  a  noun  that  "agrees  with 
anything  except  horse  flesh."  So  without 
answering  or  in  any  way  recognizing  what 
the  dealer  had  said,  he  simply  replied  :  — 

"I  think  your  price  much  too  high  for 
Cairo,  where  very  few  people  ride  fine  horses. 
But  I  have  decided  to  take  the  mare  at  your 
figures ;  have  her  brought  out  please,  that  I 
may  look  her  over  again." 

When  the  mare  came,  the  young  man  lovingly 
inspected  all  her  points.  Then  he  examined 
her  feet,  one  by  one.  Finally  he  said  :  — 

"  Let  one  of  your  boys  lead  her  to  my 
farrier's  —  Lockster,  down  in  Fourth  Street, 

174 


FRENCH    AND    HORSESHOES 

you  know;  —  let  him  tell  Lockster  not  to  touch 
her  feet  till  I  get  there.  You  see  I  want  to 
have  her  shod." 

"  But  she  has  just  been  shod,  Mr.  Marvin." 

"  Yes,  so  I  see  ;  but  as  I  do  not  intend  to 
hitch  her  to  a  plough  or  a  wagon^  those  shoes 
must  come  off.  Now  let  me  give  you  a  check. 
Stop  that,  boy  !  "  he  suddenly  cried  out.  "Here 
you,  boy  !  What  business  have  you  to  mount 
the  mare  ?  I  told  you  to  lead  her.  Off  her 
back  instantly !  " 

It  seemed  to  the  stable  boy  that  the  young 
man  was  unusually  particular  that  morning. 
Perhaps  it  seemed  so  to  the  horse-dealer  also ; 
but  that  worthy  was  used  to  respect  even 
the  whims  of  good  customers,  so  he  gave  the 
boy  his  orders  in  very  vigorous  terms,  and  the 
youth  walked  away  leading  the  mare,  greatly 
to  his  disgust.  He  was  afraid  somebody  might 
think  that  he  feared  to  ride  so  spirited  an 
animal,  and  all  that  he  had  of  character  was 
included  in  his  pride  of  horsemanship. 

After  drawing  his  check  in  payment,  Marvin 
hurried  to  the  farrier's  and  personally  directed 

'75 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

the  shoeing  of  the  beautiful  mare.  He  handled 
half  a  hundred  shoes,  finding  none  to  suit  his 
fastidious  requirements.  Finally  he  bade  the 
farrier  forge  the  shoes  he  desired,  and  sitting 
upon  a  grimy  block,  to  the  detriment  of  his 
attire,  he  superintended  the  process,  suggesting, 
criticising,  and  personally  measuring  the  shoes 
upon  the  dainty  hoofs  of  the  mare. 

The  man  was  a  borr  lover  of  fine  horses, 
and  —  well,  this  particular  mare  was  intended 
for  the  use  of  Gab.rielle  Latour. 


176 


XVII 

A  'LITTLE   TRANSACTION   IN   COTTON 

JOHN  LAND  was  a  sensitive  person  in  his 
way.       He    was    morbidly    self-conscious, 
though  in  no  proper  sense    of   the   word 
self-respecting.     His  vanity  was  enormous,  par 
ticularly  as  regarded    his  personal  appearance, 
but  he  had  not  enough  of  pride  to  restrain  him 
from    any  act    that    might  feed   his    vanity  or 
minister    in   any  way    to    his    aggrandizement. 
Will   Hallam  used  to  say   that    he   overvalued 
himself  and  yet  was  always  ready  to  sell  out  his 
self-respect  at  a  discount.     In  brief,  he  was  a 
man  of  weak  personality  dominated  by  an  exag 
gerated  concern  for  what  others  might  think  of 
him.     He  was  also  excessively  nervous  in  tem 
perament,  and    finally  he    had  nothing   in    his 
make-up  that  remotely  resembled  a  conscience. 
After    Hugh    Marvin    had    thrown   the   ink- 
177 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

stands  at  him,  John  Land's  vanity  was  sorely 
wounded  by  the  fact  that  others  knew  and  were 
laughing  over  the  occurrence.  But  his  self- 
respect  did  not  rise  to  a  level  prompting  him  to 
seek  any  sort  of  redress  or  satisfaction,  although 
Marvin  invited  him  to  do  so,  in  a  note  in  which 
he  said  :  — 

"  SIR  :  I  have  affronted  you  in  a  way  that  no 
apology  could  cure,  even  if  I  were  disposed  to 
make  any  apology,  as  I  certainly  am  not.  I  deem 
the  offensive  epithet  you  applied  to  a  near  and 
dear  relative  of  my  own  an  amply  sufficient 
provocation  for  what  I  did  in  this  case. 

"  But  I  can  imagine  that  you  may  wish  to 
seek  redress  in  some  way  chosen  by  yourself. 
This  note  is  simply  to  inform  you  that  I  shall 
continue  to  live  in  my  present  quarters,  and 
shall  attend  at  my  office  every  day,  so  that  if 
you  have  any  occasion  to  communicate  with  me 
on  this  subject,  directly  or  indirectly,  you  may 
know  where  to  find  me.  If  you  desire  to  take 
legal  proceedings  against  me, — and  I  suppose 
such  proceedings  would  be  possible, — you  need 
178 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

not  be  at  the  trouble  of  communicating  with  me 
at  all,  as  I  have  instructed  my  attorneys,  Messrs. 
Brown  and  Gilchrist,  to  accept  service  for  me  in 
any  proceeding  that  you  may  be  disposed  to  in 
stitute.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  add 
that  if  you  prefer  to  seek  redress  in  more  per 
sonal  ways,  I  am  very  much  at  your  service." 

To  this  note  no  reply  was  ever  sent.  John 
Land  did  not  wish  to  give  the  matter  any  fur 
ther  publicity  than  it  had  already  gained.  He 
had  not  enough  of  self-respect  to  face  the  con 
sequences  of  any  effort  at  redress.  At  the 
same  time  he  had  too  much  of  that  vanity 
which  he  mistook  for  self-respect  to  remain 
longer  in  Cairo  while  this  matter  was  new 
enough  in  men's  minds  to  be  made  a  subject  of 
talk  in  a  community  in  which  there  was  no 
special  disposition  to  lose  a  jest  by  any  over- 
delicacy  of  reticence. 

Accordingly  Land  decided  that  he  might  find 

better    "business    opportunities"    in    Memphis 

than  any  that  opened  to  him  in  Cairo  at  that 

time.     And  he  did  so  in  a  very  marked  degree. 

179 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

The  Confederacy  was  falling  to  pieces,  and  the 
Union  armies  in  the  field  were  at  that  time 
capturing  large  stores  of  cotton  that  had  been 
bought  or  otherwise  acquired  by  the  Confed 
erate  government,  and  was  therefore  United 
States  government  property  when  captured. 
Much  of  this  cotton  had  been  buried  for  a  year 
or  more  in  damp  earth,  and  was  now  in  an 
entirely  unmarketable  condition.  The  bagging 
that  covered  the  bales  was  rotten,  and  beneath 
it  an  inch  or  two  or  three  or  four  of  the  cotton 
itself  was  so  badly  soiled  and  stained  as  to  be 
worth  but  little,  while  the  main  body  of  every 
bale  was  quite  as  good  as  ever. 

A  great  flood  of  such  cotton  was  daily  pour 
ing  into  Memphis,  and  it  must  be  put  into 
marketable  condition  before  it  could  be  offered 
for  sale.  The  bagging  must  be  removed.  The 
soiled  cotton  near  the  surface  must  be  separated 
from  the  good  cotton  within,  and  each  must  be 
baled  anew,  separately,  the  good  cotton  to  be 
sold  at  full  market  price  and  the  soiled  re 
mainder  for  whatever  pittance  it  might  bring 
in  a  market  where  cotton  was  so  eagerly  in 
1 80 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

demand  that  any  decently  good  bale  brought 
a  dollar  and  a  half  a  pound  or  even  more.  In 
such  a  market  the  worst  of  the  refuse  was  worth 
ten  or  twenty  cents  a  pound. 

In  these  conditions  John  Land  saw  his  opper- 
tunity  and  he  quickly  seized  it.  He  got  a  mili 
tary  permit  to  fence  off  a  few  acres  of  the  bluff 
that  fronts  the  river  at  Memphis,  and  convert  it 
into  a  cotton  yard  of  his  own.  All  that  bluff 
had  been  given  to  the  city  many  years  before  to 
be  used  as  a  riverside  park.  But  John  Land 
did  not  concern  himself  to  consider  any  techni 
cal  rights  of  the  conquered  and  garrison-gov 
erned  city.  Neither  did  the  military  authorities 
in  control  there.  So  John  Land  secured  a  vast 
space  on  the  bluff  to  be  used  as  a  storage  yard 
for  cotton  without  any  rental  whatever.  There 
he  set  up  half  a  dozen  presses. 

Then  he  secured  a  contract  with  the  govern 
ment's  agents,  under  which  he  was  to  receive 
the  captured  cotton,  strip  it,  clean  it,  sort  out 
the  good  parts  of  it,  and  put  it  into  fresh  and 
marketable  bales. 

As  a  part  of  his  remuneration  for  this  work 
181 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

he  was  to  have  the  soiled  trimmings  of  all  the 
bales  for  his  own. 

It  was  a  profitable  bargain  to  John  Land  as 
it  stood,  but  he  was  not  a  person  to  be  content 
with  a  good  profit  when  a  better  one  was  within 
reach. 

Presently  the  government's  agents  and  in 
spectors  began  to  complain  that  Land  was  apt 
to  "cut  too  deep"  in  trimming  the  bales;  that 
too  much  good,  marketable  cotton  managed 
somehow  to  get  itself  mixed  up  with  the  refuse. 

Now  John  Land  was  above  all  things  a 
diplomatic  person.  It  was  never  his  habit  to 
"go  off  at  half-cock."  So  on  this  occasion 
he  suavely  said  to  the  two  government  agents 
who  were  criticising  his  work  :  — 

"  It  may  be  true,  gentlemen.  Indeed,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  is  true.  You  see  I  am 
very  conscientious  in  doing  this  work  —  over- 
conscientious  perhaps.  At  any  rate  I  have 
steadily  borne  in  mind  that  the  smallest  frag 
ment  of  discolored  or  otherwise  damaged  cotton 
in  a  bale  reduces  the  grade  and  the  price  of 
that  bale  by  one-third  or  one-half.  It  has 
182 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

been  my  conscientious  endeavor  not  to  permit 
that  to  happen  in  the  case  of  any  bale  prepared 
by  me  for  government  sale.  Perhaps  in  some 
cases  I  have  been  over-careful  on  this  point." 

"  Now  look  here !  "  broke  in  that  one  of  the 
two  government  agents  who  had  most  of  the 
brutal  courage  of  corruption,  "you  needn't 
be  so  smooth-tongued  and  mealy-mouthed  about 
the  thing.  We  understand.  But  you're  mak 
ing  a  mighty  good  thing  out  o'  this  cotton- 
trimming  business,  and  as  you  can  only  do  it 
subject  to  our  inspection,  we  don't  see  why 
we  shouldn't  have  a  percentage  of  the  profits. 
That's  flat-footed.  That's  a  business  proposi 
tion,  and  as  there's  nobody  by  to  hear,  I  don't 
mind  putting  it  to  you  flat.  Of  course  there 
ain't  any  of  us  a-workin'  for  our  health." 

John  Land  listened  attentively  to  the  end. 
Then  he  said  :  — 

"  If  you  two  gentlemen  will  take  supper  with 
me  to-night  in  my  private  rooms  at  the  Gayosa 
Hotel,  I  think  we  may  be  able  to  make  an  ar 
rangement  that  will  be  mutually  satisfactory." 

"Oh,   no,   you   don't,"    said   the   spokesman 

183 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

of  the  pair.  "  There  might  be  somebody  in  a 
closet  or  behind  a  curtain  somewhere,  and  I'm 
not  going  to  run  my  head  into  a  noose  of  that 
sort." 

"I  assure  you  — "  began  Land,  protestingly. 

"Never  mind  assurances.  These  are  war 
times,  and  assurances  don't  count.  I'm  ready 
to  talk  business,  if  I  can  be  certain  there's 
nobody  to  hear,  but  not  otherwise." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Land.  "At  what 
hotel  are  you  staying  ? " 

"At  the  Commercial." 

"  Well,  suppose  you  invite  me  to  supper  then. 
Rent  a  room  in  the  very  top  of  the  house,  and 
have  supper  served  there.  I'll  come,  and  we'll 
talk  business.  You  see  I'm  not  so  suspicious 
as  you  are,  or  so  much  afraid." 

"Well,  it  ain't  hardly  fair  to  put  it  that  way," 
said  the  other.  "  You  see  we're  in  government 
service  and  you  ain't.  It  makes  a  big  dif 
ference —  even  a  penitentiary  difference  some 
times." 

The  matter  was  so  arranged  and  the  three 
met  at  supper.  When  the  meal  had  been 
184 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

served  and  the  waiters  dismissed,  Land,  in  his 
persuasively  confident  manner,  said:  — 

"Now,  gentlemen,  we  are  friends  together. 
What  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  We  want  a  share  in  them  cotton  pickings, 
that's  all." 

"Why  not  a  share  in  the  cotton  itself?" 
asked  John  Land.  "It  is  worth  eight  or  ten 
times  as  much  as  the  pickings." 

"  Of  course  it  is ;  but  the  cotton  belongs  to 
the  government." 

"  Of  course.  But  as  you  two  men  are  the 
only  representatives  of  the  government  in  the 
matter,  what  is  to  prevent  us  from  giving 
the  pickings  to  the  government  and  taking  the 
cotton  for  ourselves  ?  " 

"  I  don't  understand,"  almost  gasped  the 
spokesman. 

"  I'll  explain  then.  Under  my  contract  I  am 
required  to  store  all  this  cotton  without  charge 
to  the  government,  during  all  the  time  it  is 
here  awaiting  the  trimming,  and  for  three 
months  afterward,  unless  the  government 
orders  it  shipped  sooner.  As  a  matter  of 
185 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

fact  the  shipments  are  very  slow  and  irregular, 
as  you  gentlemen  know.  Now  when  the 
trimmed  and  rebaled  cotton  is  shipped,  it  goes 
to  New  York  or  Boston.  It  is  in  beautifully 
bagged  bales.  So  are  the  trimmings  when  I 
bale  and  ship  them  on  my  own  account.  Now 
let  me  explain  a  little  further.  Some  of  this 
cotton  has  been  buried  for  a  long  time ;  some 
of  it  for  a  very  brief  time  ;  some  of  it  hasn't 
been  buried  at  all.  Nobody  knows,  as  regards 
any  bale,  how  far  it  has  been  rotted  or  stained 
or  otherwise  injured.  Oh,  you  begin  to  see?" 
he  said,  observing  a  light  as  of  dawning  intel 
ligence  in  the  eyes  of  his  interlocutor. 

"Yes,  I  begin  to  smell  daylight,"  answered 
the  other. 

"Very  well  then.  As  you  two  gentlemen 
are  the  only  persons  in  Memphis  in  any  way 
authorized  to  inspect  and  criticise  my  work,  the 
thing  is  dead  easy.  I'll  give  the  government 
some  very  pretty  bales  of  very  badly  damaged 
cotton  —  you  see  the  weather  and  long  burial 
and  all  that  are  to  blame  for  these  conditions  — 
and  besides,  the  condition  of  that  cotton  won't 
186 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

be  known  for  months  to  come.  In  the  mean 
while  we'll  finish  the  job.  I'll  sell  my  ma 
chinery  and  go  out  of  business,  leaving  an 
irresponsible  agent  here  to  ship  the  govern 
ment's  cotton  when  ordered  to  do  so.  You 
two  can  resign  your  offices." 

"Then  what  you  propose  —  " 

"What  I  propose  is  to  give  the  government 
principally  the  refuse  pickings,  and  keep  most 
of  the  good  cotton  for  ourselves." 

"  It's  a  daring  scheme,"  said  one  of  the  men, 
musingly. 

"Oh,  well,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Land. 
"  There  isn't  much  risk  in  it.  Things  are  done 
at  rather  loose  ends  in  these  war  times  you 
know.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  the  bales 
are  opened,  and  if  a  good  many  of  them  are 
found  to  contain  too  large  a  proportion  of 
stained  and  damaged  cotton,  it  will  only  show 
that  I,  as  the  contractor,  and  you  two  gentle 
men,  as  the  official  guardians  of  the  govern 
ment's  interests,  have  been  over-conscientious 
in  giving  to  the  government  every  ounce  we 
could  of  even  constructively  marketable  cotton, 
187 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

leaving  the  contractor,  as  his  remuneration,  far 
less  than  he  might  have  taken  but  for  his  con 
scientiousness  and  your  vigilance.  See  ? " 

"Yes,  I  see.  I  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't 
work  the  game." 

"Very  well  then,  let's  work  it  at  once. 
There's  a  lot  of  money  in  it  for  us  three ;  but 
as  my  contract  will  expire  in  three  months,  so 
far  as  the  work  of  trimming  and  rebaling  is  con 
cerned,  we  must  begin  at  once." 

Then  the  three  men  of  business  set  to  work 
to  arrange  terms  of  division.  As  the  originator 
of  the  scheme  and  the  partner  who  must  do  all 
the  work  besides  taking  the  lion's  share  of  the 
risk,  Land  was  to  have  two-thirds  of  the  profit, 
the  remaining  third  being  divided  between  the 

other  two. 

******* 

Ninety  days  later  John  Land  closed  out  his 
business  in  Memphis  and  returned  to  Cairo. 

He  deposited  somewhat  more  than  half  a 
million  dollars  in  a  bank.  Presently  he  trans 
ferred  most  of  the  money  to  New  York  and  a 
part  of  it  to  London. 

188 


A  LITTLE  TRANSACTION  IN  COTTON 

It  was  observed  that  through  his  New  York 
bankers  he  invested  largely  in  interest-bearing 
securities, — mainly  government  bonds. 

It  was  also  observed  that  he  presently  began 
wearing  in  his  shirt-front  diamonds  that  could 
not  be  bought  for  less  than  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  while  the  value  of  his 
diamond  sleeve-links  was  estimated  at  quite 
all  of  half  that  sum. 

Diamonds  pay  no  income  to  their  possessor, 
but  they  are  a  conveniently  compact  form  of 
wealth,  and  they  command  their  full  price  in 
any  country  to  which  their  possessor  may  have 
occasion  to  flee. 


189 


XVIII 

A  LECTURE   FROM  LIDA 

THE  first  thing  that  Gabrielle  did, 
when  the  mare  was  brought  for  her 
early  morning  ride  with  Hugh  Mar 
vin,  was  to  make  love  to  the  beautiful  blue- 
grass  creature.  Nervously  shy  at  first,  the  mare 
presently  began  to  understand  that  the  girl  who 
caressed  her  nose  and  affectionately  smoothed 
her  satinlike  coat  was  a  real  horse  lover,  and 
she  wasn't  long  in  giving  such  response  to  the 
caressing  as  a  dumb  creature  may.  She  whin 
nied  in  a  gentle  way.  She  laid  her  head  on  the 
girl's  shoulder  as  if  to  ask  for  a  further  caress. 
She  even  rubbed  her  face  against  that  of  the 
young  woman. 

"  You  must  be  a  little  patient  with  me,  Mr. 
Marvin,"  said  Gabrielle,  as  she  lifted  the  mare's 
feet  one  by  one  and  stroked  the  pasterns.     "  I 
190 


A   LECTURE    FROM    LIDA 

must  keep  you  waiting  for  a  little  while.  I 
must  make  the  mare  know  me  before  I  mount 
She  will  carry  me  willingly  then,  and  she  will 
need  no  control.  She  is  a  nervous  creature, 
half  afraid  all  the  time,  but  when  she  becomes 
acquainted  with  me,  and  learns  to  regard  me  as 
a  friend,  she  will  trust  me,  and  not  be  afraid 
when  I  am  on  her  back.  She  will  know  that 
there  is  no  danger  in  anything  I  want  her  to  do. 
She  will  feel  that  I  am  guarding  and  protecting 
her  against  all  the  fear-inspiring  old  hats  or 
barrels  or  locomotives  that  we  may  meet.  It 
is  always  better  to  win  a  horse's  confidence  than 
to  inspire  him  with  fear." 

"  It  is  a  good  deal  the  same  way  with  men," 
answered  Marvin.  "  That  is  why  so  many  des 
potisms  have  come  to  grief." 

There  was  no  time  for  reply.  The  girl  was 
in  the  saddle  now,  and  the  mare,  which  had 
never  before  been  ridden  by  a  woman,  showed 
only  a  temporary  uneasiness  at  the  novelty  of 
her  mount.  She  seemed  to  know  that  the  young 
woman  on  her  back  was  well  disposed  to  her,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  she  sat  upon  a  side-saddle 
191 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

with  her  bewilderingly  voluminous  riding-habit 
all  on  one  side.  After  a  few  gyrations,  made  in 
an  instinctive  effort  to  rid  herself  of  the  long 
skirt,  the  mare  reconciled  herself  to  the  femi 
nine  eccentricity  and  bore  her  light  burden 
gently  and  proudly. 

There  was  an  earth  embankment  all  around 
Cairo,  called  the  levee.  Its  purpose  was  to 
keep  the  rivers  out  of  the  town  at  times  of 
flood.  For  perhaps  a  mile  of  space  on  the  Ohio 
River  side  of  the  town,  this  levee  formed  a  busy 
street,  with  railroad  tracks  running  along  it, 
with  stores  and  banks  and  warehouses  and  mills 
fronting  upon  it,  and  with  steamboats  lying 
three  deep  at  its  foot.  But  on  the  Mississippi 
side  of  the  town  there  was  no  landing-place, 
and  so  the  miles  of  Mississippi  levee  were  with 
out  buildings  of  any  kind  facing  them.  The 
levee  there  was  simply  an  earth  embankment 
with  a  level  top  forty  or  fifty  feet  wide.  There 
were  great  sycamore  and  cottonwood  trees  on 
either  side,  but  with  no  houses  near,  and  in  the 
upper  parts  with  no  human  habitations  of  any 
kind  even  within  sight.  In  brief,  this  Missis- 
192 


WITHOUT  EVEN  A  HINT  OF  CHALLENGE  TO  HIM  TO  FOLLOW, 
SHE  PUSHED  THE  MARE  TO  HER  FULLEST  RACING  SPEED. 


A    LECTURE    FROM    LIDA 

sippi  levee  was  a  perfect  woodland  road,  broad, 
straight  in  its  reaches,  perfectly  drained  by  the 
slope  on  either  side,  as  absolutely  level  as 
engineering  skill  could  make  it,  and  well  shaded 
by  the  great  trees  that  overhung  it. 

When  Marvin  piloted  the  girl  through  un 
occupied  streets  and  presently  brought  her  out 
upon  the  levee,  just  as  the  five  o'clock  sun 
showed  itself  over  the  Ohio  River  on  the  right 
and  nearly  in  front  of  them,  Gabrielle  fell  into 
an  ecstasy  of  delight,  such  as  a  six-year-old  child 
might  have  shown.  She  forgot  even  her  man 
ners  in  her  enjoyment  of  the  perfect  morning, 
the  perfect  road,  and  the  delight  of  riding  a 
superb  animal. 

"  What  a  beautiful  road  it  is  for  a  run  !  " 
she  exclaimed,  rather  to  herself  than  to  her 
companion,  and  then,  without  even  a  hint  of 
challenge  to  him  to  follow,  she  pushed  the 
mare  to  her  fullest  racing  speed,  and  went 
flying  away  as  if  she  were  mounted  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind. 

Marvin  followed  at  his  horse's  best  speed, 
but  although  his  animal  was  of  blue  blood, 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

he  had  no  such  pedigree  as  that  belonging  to 
the  mare,  nor  had  he  her  nimbleness  of  foot. 
It  was  not  until  the  girl  drew  rein  after  a  mile 
run,  and  turned  to  meet  him,  that  he  succeeded 
in  coming  up  with  her. 

"  I  must  buy  another  horse,"  he  said,  "  if  I 
am  to  ride  with  you  in  the  mornings." 

"No,"  she  replied  with  contrite  eagerness  of 
protest.  "  It  is  I  who  am  in  the  wrong,  and 
I  will  never  ride  with  you  again  if  you  do  not 
accept  my  apology." 

The  young  man  laughingly  tried  to  interrupt, 
but  the  girl  insistently  broke  in  upon  his 
speech,  saying: — 

"  No,  no,  no !  You  must  listen.  It  was 
rude  of  me  to  break  away  in  that  fashion.  It 
was  inexcusable  —  intolerable.  But  I  couldn't 
help  it.  It  is  a  year  since  I  last  mounted  a 
horse.  It  is  a  year  since  I  had  sympathy  in 
greeting  the  sunrise.  Do  you  wonder  that 
when  I  saw  the  sun,  and  felt  so  superb  an 
animal  under  me,  my  emotions  ran  away  with 
me  ?  I  humbly  beg  your  pardon." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  you  said  that,"  Marvin 
194 


A   LECTURE    FROM    LIDA 

answered,  holding  out  a  hand  which  she 
warmly  grasped. 

"  But  why  ? "  she  asked. 

"Because  I  want  you  to  do  that  sort  of 
thing  every  time  you  feel  like  it.  It  means 
joy  to  you,  and  your  joy  will  always  be  my 
rejoicing." 

If  Gabrielle  Latour  had  said  the  right 
thing  at  that  time,  or  if  she  had  remained 
silent  saying  nothing  at  all,  Hugh  Marvin 
would  have  declared  his  love  then  and  there, 
and  perhaps  these  two  lives  would  have 
been  linked.  But  instead  of  saying  the  right 
thing  or  saying  nothing,  Gabrielle  said  :  — 

"You  are  always  very  good  and  kindly  to 
me.  You  are  like  my  father." 

How  could  a  warm-blooded  young  man 
declare  his  love  for  a  girl  who  had  just  told 
him  that  she  regarded  him  as  "  like  her 
father"? 

So  the  ride  ended  in  nothing,  and  so  did 
many  succeeding  rides. 

But  one  day  Hugh  Marvin's  sister,  Mrs. 
Will  Hallam,  called  him  into  her  nursery. 

195 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

"  You  are  a  good  deal  of  an  idiot,  Hugh," 
she  said  by  way  of  a  beginning. 

"  I  dare  say  I  am,"  he  answered.  "  I  often 
reach  that  conclusion  respecting  myself.  But 
I  wonder  what  specific  manifestation  of  idiocy 
you  have  now  particularly  in  mind." 

"  Oh,  it's  general,  it's  chronic.  It  runs 
through  all  your  conduct." 

"  Would  you  mind  explaining  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Not  at  all.  You  are  madly  in  love  with 
Gabrielle  Latour." 

"  Yes,  I  have  discovered  that  to  my  sore  dis 
comfort,  seeing  that  she  is  not  at  all  in  love 
with  me.  But  I  do  not  quite  see  how  being 
in  love  with  Gabrielle  Latour  can  be  regarded 
as  an  idiocy." 

"It  isn't,"  she  quickly  replied.  "It's  the 
sanest  act  of  your  life.  The  manifestation 
of  idiocy  lies  in  the  fact  that  you  haven't 
known  how  to  win  her  love  in  return.  Really, 
Hugh,  you  are  very  stupid." 

"I  suppose  I  am.  At  any  rate  I  don't  at  all 
know  what  you  mean.  How  might  I  induce 
the  girl  to  love  me  ? " 

196 


A    LECTURE    FROM    LIDA 

"  What  a  question  !  Of  course  I  shall  not 
answer  it.  I  should  be  guilty  of  disloyalty  to 
my  sex  if  I  did." 

"  But  how,  then  —  you  see  I  don't  at  all 
know  what  it  is  that  I  ought  to  do." 

"  Of  course  you  don't.  How  should  you, 
being  a  man  ?  Men  are  so  stupid  where 
women  are  concerned !  I'll  give  you  a  hint. 
Do  you  suppose  a  girl  who  is  proud  and  full 
of  self-respect  is  going  to  throw  herself  at  a 
man's  head  by  falling  in  love  with  him  before 
he  invites  her  to  do  so  ? " 

"  Then  you  think  I  should  speak  to  her  on 
the  subject  ?" 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  no  ! "  cried  his  sister. 
Then  she  laughed  a  little.  Finally  she 
asked  :  — 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  'suggestion,'  Hugh? 
You  often  practise  it,  anyhow.  The  other  day 
you  told  me  you  hadn't  had  your  breakfast 
when  you  came  to  my  house  at  eleven  o'clock. 
That  suggested  to  me  the  propriety  of  having 
a  round  of  beef  and  some  bread  and  butter 
brought  in  without  waiting  for  the  luncheon 
197 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

hour.  There,  I'm  not  going  to  say  another 
word,  except  that  up  to  this  time  Gabrielle 
Latour  has  never  thought  of  loving  you  other 
wise  than  as  a  girl  might  love  her  father  or  her 
elder  brother,  and  it  is  all  your  own  fault,  you 
stupid ! " 

"But,  Lida  — "  he  called  as  she  hurried  out 
of  the  room. 

"  Good  night ! "  she  called  back.  And  she 
was  gone. 


198 


XIX 

SUGGESTION 

L IDA'S  enigmatical  lecture  was  delivered 
in   the   evening,  and    Marvin   went  at 
once  to  his*  rooms  and  to  bed. 
Perhaps  it  wasn't  a  very  good  night  for  sleep 
ing,  or  perhaps  —  something  else.     At  any  rate 
Hugh  Marvin  found  himself  exceedingly  wake 
ful.     His  sister's  words  lingered  in  his  memory 
with  tormenting  persistence,  and   he   did  not 
clearly  understand  them. 

"Why  is  it,  I  wonder,  that  a  woman  never 
will  say  things  right  out,  as  men  do  ? "  he  asked 
himself.  "But  they  won't,  and  so  there's  no 
use  in  wondering." 

He  began  presently  to  understand,  in  some 
measure  at  least,  what  Mrs.  Hallam  had  meant 
by  her  use  of  that  word  "suggestion."     But  he 
199 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

was  far  less  clear  in  his  mind,  as  to  how  he 
might  act  upon  the  hint. 

"She  means,"  he  thought,  as  he  tossed  upon 
his  bed,  "  that  if  ever  Gabrielle  is  to  love  me, 
I  must  in  some  way  suggest  the  thought  to  her 
mind.  But  how  am  I  to  do  that  ?  The  only 
way  I  can  think  of  to  do  that  would  be  to  go 
to  her  and  frankly  tell  her  what  my  own  feel 
ings  are  and  what  I  should  like  her  to  think 
about.  But  that  would  never  do  under  present 
circumstances.  I  suppose  I'm  a  'stupid'  as 
Lida  says,  but  for  my  life  I  can't  think  of  any 
other  way  to  make  the  '  suggestion '  needed. 
Wonder  what  other  fellows  do  in  such  cases  ? 
Oh,  I  know ;  they  send  boxes  of  candy  every 
day,  or  they  frequent  ice-cream  saloons.  Ah  ! 
bah  !  those  are  vulgar  attentions  intended  for 
women  whose  palates  are  more  important  than 
their  minds  or  their  souls." 

After  thinking  a  while,  the  young  man  sud 
denly  sat  up  in  bed  and  exclaimed  :  — 

"  By  Jove,  I  have  it ;  the  essence  of  it  all 
is  marked  attention,  such  attention  as  shall 
compel  the  young  woman  in  the  case  to  ask, 

200 


SUGGESTION 

'Why  does  he  do  this  ?'  such  attention  as  she 
cannot  pass  over  as  casual  or  merely  polite,  such 
attention  as  may  show  real  and  earnest  solici 
tude  and  concern." 

Having  thus  settled  the  matter  in  his  own 
mind,  the  young  man  at  last  went  to  sleep. 
The  next  morning  he  made  diligent  inquiry  for 
a  florist,  only  to  learn  that  there  was  no  such 
person  in  Cairo.  The  only  flower  gardens  of 
consequence  in  the  little  town  were  those  of 
Mrs.  Hallam  herself,  of  which  Gabrielle, 
of  course,  enjoyed  free  use  and  advantage. 
Obviously  there  was  no  thoroughfare  in  the  di 
rection  of  a  daily  tribute  of  flowers. 

Then  came  to  him  another  thought.  "Ga 
brielle  is  an  intellectual  woman  —  well,  not  just 
exactly  intellectual,  perhaps,  but  she  has  brains 
and  education  and  culture,  and  she  has  been 
accustomed  to  read  a  good  deal.  I'll  send  her 
some  magazines  and  the  like.  Then  I'll  follow 
the  thing  up.  I  suppose  I  was  unconsciously 
trying  to  practise  what  Lida  calls  'suggestion' 
when  I  proposed  the  early  morning  rides. 
Well,  they  haven't  seemed  to  act  in  that  way. 
201 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

Quite  the  contrary  in  fact.  When  we  go  out, 
she  is  so  taken  up  with  the  sun  and  the  mare, 
and  the  '  smell  of  the  morning '  as  she  calls  it, 
that  she  doesn't  give  a  single  thought  to  me, 
except  perhaps  now  and  then  to  think  how 
grateful  she  ought  to  be.  Confound  gratitude  ! 
Anyhow,  the  rides  haven't  acted  suggestively, 
and  there  aren't  any  flowers  to  be  had  in  this 
uncivilized  town,  and  I  simply  wont  insult  her 
with  tributes  of  bonbons,  so  I'm  going  to  try 
books  and  that  sort  of  thing." 

So  he  went  to  Blelock's  and  looked  over  the 
magazines  and  periodicals  on  sale  there,  select 
ing  the  best  of  them  and  ordering  them  sent  to 
his  rooms. 

There  he  stripped  off  the  wrappings  which 
were  blazoned  all  over  with  the  bookseller's 
advertisements,  and  wrapped  the  literature 
anew  in  paper  that  was  innocent  of  any  sort  of 
craft  of  that  kind.  He  sent  the  parcel  by  a 
negro  boy,  together  with  a  note  that,  brief  as  it 
was,  had  cost  him  a  full  hour's  work  when  he 
ought  to  have  been  at  his  office  looking  after 
his  affairs.  In  the  note  he  said  :  — 
202 


SUGGESTION 

"  It  occurs  to  me  that  after  our  early  morning 
rides  you  must  be  a  trifle  weary  now  and  then, 
and  the  thought  has  come  to  me,  that  perhaps 
you  might  find  it  restful  to  have  a  little  light 
literature  at  hand,  with  which  to  while  away  the 
time.  At  any  rate  I  send  you  this  budget  on 
the  chance  that  it  may  contain  something  to 
interest  or  amuse  your  leisure.  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  what  seems  to  me  good  literature  of  an 
agreeable  sort  in  some  of  these  periodicals. 
Perhaps  you  will  not  find  it  so.  In  that  event 
you  have  only  to  cast  the  whole  lot  of  them 
aside  as  so  much  waste  paper. 

"  Pray  do  not  trouble  yourself  to  send  an 
answer.  The  thing  is  of  too  little  consequence 
for  that.  Oh,  by  the  way,  I  am  called  to  Chicago 
on  business,  so  that  I  shall  not  have  the  pleas 
ure  of  riding  with  you  for  two  or  three  morn 
ings  to  come.  But  my  man  Moses  will  take 
the  mare  to  you  every  morning  in  order  that 
you  may  give  her  her  necessary  exercise." 

"Upon     my     word     Hugh     is     improving," 
thought    Mrs.     Will    Hallam,    when     Gabrielle 
203 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

showed  her  the  magazines,  and  gave  her  the 
note  to  read.  "  That  is  a  master  stroke,  to 
set  her  to  riding  alone  for  a  day  or  two.  She'll 
find  out  how  much  his  company  means.  I 
didn't  think  he  had  so  much  nous." 

But  the  good  sister  spoke  none  of  the 
thoughts  that  were  suggested  to  her  mind  by 
the  incident.  She  was  a  woman  gifted  and 
brilliant  in  conversation,  but  she  knew  how  to 
hold  her  tongue  in  leash  when  that  seemed  best. 


204 


XX 

A  LOST   OPPORTUNITY 

HUMAN  nature  is  perhaps  the  queer 
est  product  of  creation  or  evolution  or 
whatever  else  it  is  that  brought  all  of 
us  into  being.     It  is  never  consistent  with  it 
self.     It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  it  is 
never  quite  candid   and   truthful   even    in    its 
dealings  with  itself. 

When  Hugh  Marvin,  in  his  note,  said  to  Ga- 
brielle  Latour,  "  Pray  do  not  trouble  yourself  to 
send  an  answer,"  he  probably  meant  it  in  a 
way.  At  least  he  meant  that  she  should  not 
feel  under  any  obligation  to  send  an  answer. 
Yet  all  that  day  until  the  time  came  for  him 
to  board  a  late  afternoon  train  for  Chicago, 
he  found  himself  waiting  for  an  answer  and 
uneasily  wondering  why  no  answer  came. 
Gabrielle  in  her  turn  was  equally  perplexed. 
205 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

She,  with  her  absolute  sincerity  of  mind,  ac 
cepted  the  young  man's  words  as  meaning  all 
that  was  said  in  them  and  perhaps  a  trifle  more. 
"  He  is  a  very  busy  man  of  affairs,"  she  re 
flected.  "  He  is  willing,  in  his  kindly,  almost 
fatherly  way,  to  give  up  his  early  mornings  to 
me,  or  rather,  he  likes  to  ride  in  the  early  morn 
ing,  and  he  invites  me  to  go  with  him  because 
he  thinks  I  enjoy  it,  as  I  certainly  do.  But  he 
doesn't  want  to  be  bothered  with  notes  from  me, 
and  so  when  he  sends  me  all  those  delightful 
magazines,  and  politely  writes  a  note  to  accom 
pany  them,  he  forbids  me  even  to  say  '  thank 
you.'  Never  mind,  I'll  say  it  when  we  meet 
again,  and  I'll  say  it  in  such  a  way  that  he 
shall  know  how  truly  I  mean  it." 

Thus  are  cross-purposes  set  going  in  this 
whimsical  world  of  ours. 

Gabrielle  was  full  of  joyous  gratitude  when 
Moses  brought  the  mare  for  her  use  on  the 
first  morning  of  Hugh  Marvin's  absence.  It 
seemed  to  her  that  her  benefactor  would  never 
end  his  delicately  considerate  activities  in  her 
behalf,  and  she  wondered  why  he  should  be  so 
206 


A    LOST    OPPORTUNITY 

ceaselessly  thoughtful  of  her.  That  inquiry 
was  a  lock  to  which  she  had  as  yet  no  key. 

Nevertheless  she  did  not  enjoy  her  ride  that 
morning  though  it  was  a  long  one.  She  went  up 
the  Mississippi  levee,  over  a  cross  levee  to  the 
Ohio,  and  up  that  bank  to  Mound  City,  half  a 
dozen  miles  farther  up  the  stream.  There  she 
saw  the  great  array  of  grim  ironclads  and  other 
naval  craft  that  lay  at  anchor  in  the  river,  sug 
gesting  the  power  and  determination  of  the 
great  Republic  to  assert,  defend,  and  maintain 
itself.  But  she  was  in  no  mood  to  admire  the 
brave  display. 

"After  all,"  she  thought,  "it  represents  the 
power  that  is  crushing  and  destroying  our 
Southland." 

With  that  she  turned  the  mare's  head  and 
galloped  away  down  the  levee  toward  Cairo. 
After  a  little  while  another  thought  came  to 
her,  and  she  drew  rein  to  consider  it. 

"Why  should  I  care  now,"  she  asked  herself, 

"as  between  North  and  South  ?     So  far  as  I 

know,  the  only  friends  I  have  left  in  the  world 

are  in  Cairo  yonder,  and  surely  I  love  them. 

207 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

They  are  ceaselessly  kind  to  me,  they  are 
generous  in  mind,  and  they  have  done  nothing 
to  the  hurt  of  my  people.  Really  I  have  no 
people  now,  and  as  I  am  not  a  man,  there  is 
no  occasion  for  me  to  choose  between  the  two 
sides  in  a  war  which  I  never  understood  and 
which  I  don't  think  anybody  else  understands 
very  clearly." 

There  came  over  her  then  a  feeling  of  lone 
liness  which  was  intolerably  oppressive.  No 
such  feeling  had  ever  come  to  her  when  Hugh 
Marvin  had  been  the  companion  of  her  rides, 
but  she  did  not  think  of  that.  She  thought 
only  of  how  completely  alone  she  was  in  this 
vast  world  full  of  people,  and  if  a  tear  or  two 
slipped  out  from  beneath  her  eyelids,  surely  the 
fact  was  not  one  to  be  wondered  at. 

Presently  a  kindlier,  a  more  hopeful  thought 
succeeded. 

"  No,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  am  not  abso 
lutely  alone,  I  am  not  wholly  friendless,  and  I 
need  never  be  so  if  I  do  not  permit  myself  to 
fall  into  a  morbid  melancholy.  All  my  own 
people  are  gone,  it  is  true  —  my  mother,  my 
208 


A   LOST   OPPORTUNITY 

father,  my  brothers,  and  even  my  aunt,  the 
last  relative  I  had  alive,  so  far  as  I  know  or 
shall  ever  know.  And  yet  I  have  never  been 
without  friends.  Mr.  Marvin  rescued  me  from 
starvation  down  there  in  the  swamp,  and  he  has 
been  ceaselessly  kind  to  me  ever  since.  Lida  is 
like  a  real  sister  to  me,  and  her  children  are 
dearer  little  lovers  than  I  ever  knew  before. 
As  for  Captain  Will  Hallam  —  well,  he  is  one 
of  nature's  gentlemen.  He  is  one  of  the  very 
few  people  in  this  world  from  whom  I  could 
accept  help  in  a  time  of  need  without  feeling 
myself  oppressed  by  obligation.  He  is  so 
generous  and  so  healthfully  breezy  with  it  all ! 

"  I  mustn't  be  morbid.  I  have  good  and  dear 
and  trusty  friends.  I  must  rejoice  in  their 
friendship,  and  add  to  their  number  such  other 
people  as  I  can  who  are  worth  loving." 

With  that,  and  with  a  new  optimism  inspir 
ing  her  soul,  she  shook  out  her  rein,  chirruped 
to  the  mare,  —  whom  she  had  named  "  Hot 
foot," —  and  galloped  back  to  Cairo  in  time 
for  breakfast,  and  with  a  healthy  appetite  for 
that  meal. 

209 


A    DAUGHTER   OF    THE   SOUTH 

It  was  after  three  mornings  of  this  lonely 
riding  that  Hugh  Marvin  again  presented  him 
self  as  her  escort.  Then  for  the  first  time  she 
had  opportunity  to  thank  him  for  sending  the 
magazines,  which  had  by  that  time  been 
supplemented  by  a  second  supply  of  later 
numbers,  sent  upon  Marvin's  orders. 

"  It  is  very  hard  to  thank  you  as  I  should, 
Mr.  Marvin,"  the  girl  said,  when  together  they 
reached  the  broad,  smooth  road  on  top  of  the 
Mississippi  levee,  and  Hotfoot  at  last  consented 
to  behave  herself  in  somewhat  orderly  fashion. 

"It  would  have  been  easier  to  send  you  a 
note  of  thanks  in  the  first  place,  if  you  had 
not  forbidden  that." 

Hugh  Marvin's  heart  bounded.  He  under 
stood  now  why  that  hoped-for  note  had  never 
come,  and  he  was  satisfied. 

"How  frank,  and  honest,  and  sincere,  and 
trustful  the  girl  is !  "  he  thought  to  himself. 
"Any  other  and  more  artificial  young  woman 
would  have  understood  at  once,  and  would 
have  sent  me  a  letter  anyhow.  I  like  this 
one's  way  best.  She  takes  me  at  my  word, 

2IO 


A    LOST    OPPORTUNITY 

never  dreaming  that  I  could  mean  more  or  less 
than  I  say.  And  how  unworthy  I  am  of  such 
confidence !  Even  when  I  was  writing  her  not 
to  reply,  I  expected  a  reply,  and  all  day  I 
expected  -it.  I  wish  I  were  half  as  sincere  as 
she  is  ! " 

To  Gabrielle  he  said  :  — 

"There  was  no  need  of  thanks  then,  and 
there  is  none  now.  The  service  was  a  trifling 
one  at  best,  and  it  gave  me  pleasure  to  render 
it.  It  is  just  as  if  I  should  offer  you  a  chair 
on  the  piazza,  of  my  sister's  house." 

"You  are  very  good  to  me,"  she  answered, 
"and  I  am  very  grateful  for  your  kindness." 

"  I  wish  you  would  quit  being  that,"  he 
replied. 

"  Quit  being  what  ? " 

"Why  'grateful.'  That  word  implies  bene 
faction  of  some  sort,  and  somehow  I  don't  like 
to  think  of  you,  Gabrielle,  as  receiving  bene 
factions  from  me  or  from  anybody  else." 

She  tried  to  interject  something  at  this 
point,  but  he  raised  his  hand  in  protest  and 
went  on:  — 

211 


A   DAUGHTER   OF  THE   SOUTH 

"  It  is  only  a  pleasure  to  me  to  do  these 
trifling  things  for  your  entertainment,  and  by 
the  way,  there  is  something  very  serious  that  I 
want  to  say  to  you." 

"What  is  it,  please?" 

"  Why,  you  know  I  am  what  is  called  an 
educated  man.  That  is  to  say,  I  have  gone 
through  college  and  taken  a  degree  and  all 
that  sort  of  thing.  But  since  my  graduation  I 
have  read  almost  nothing  except  the  news 
papers.  In  my  boyhood  I  read  a  good  deal 
more  of  literature  than  most  boys  do,  and  I 
had  a  passion  for  it.  Of  late  years  I  have  had 
no  time  for  reading  and  I  have  a  very  pro 
nounced  conviction  that  no  man  is  really 
educated  who  doesn't  go  on  reading  literature 
after  his  graduation.  So  I  have  made  up  my 
mind  to  reform,  just  as  a  man  does  who  has 
fallen  into  the  habit  of  drinking  and  decides 
to  quit.  I  am  going  to  take  up  my  reading 
again  and  give  all  my  evenings  to  it.  But  I 
don't  know  just  where  and  how  to  begin.  I 
want  you  to  help  me  if  you  will." 

"But  how  can  7  help  you?"  the  girl  asked 

212 


A   LOST    OPPORTUNITY 

in  bewilderment.  Her  conception  of  this  man 
was  that  of  one  so  unmeasurably  her  superior 
that  the  thought  of  her  offering  him  advice, 
or  assistance,  or  counsel,  seemed  almost  ludi 
crously  preposterous. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  how.  In  that  first 
parcel  of  magazines  and  periodicals  there  must 
be  embodied  pretty  nearly  all  that  is  worth 
while  in  the  current  literature  published  since 
I  quit  reading.  There  is  much  else,  of  course, 
much  that  a  busy  man  need  not  waste  time  in 
reading.  What  I  ask  of  you  is  to  mark  those 
articles  that  seem  to  you  best  worthy  of  atten 
tion,  and  to  return  the  periodicals  containing 
them,  so  that  I  may  read  them.  You  under 
stand,  don't  you?  I  have  become  a  commission 
merchant.  I  don't  want  to  be  always  and  only 
a  commission  merchant." 

"  I  quite  understand,"  she  answered,  staring 
straight  before  her.  "  But  how  am  I  to  help 
you?  How  am  I  to  judge  what  you  ought  to 
read  ? " 

"I  didn't  ask  you  to  do  that,"  he  quickly 
replied.  "  I  asked  you  only  to  mark  those 
213 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

things  which  you  think  I  shall  want  to  read  — 
especially  those  things  that  have  most  inter 
ested  you.  You  see  one  must  have  sympathy 
in  his  reading  if  he  is  to  be  benefited  by  it." 

The  girl  turned  upon  him  suddenly,  and 
looked  him  straight  in  the  eyes. 

"  You  are  not  trifling  with  me  ?  "  she  asked. 
"  You  are  not  pretending  out  of  politeness  ? 
You  are  not  —  oh,  Mr.  Marvin,  you  know  what 
I  would  ask." 

He  held  out  his  hand  and  she  placed  hers  in 
it.  Then  he  looked  at  her  with  a  gaze  as  frank 
as  her  own  had  been. 

"All  that  I  said  was  sincere,"  he  answered. 

"Thank  you,"  she  replied.  "May  we  not 
gallop  now  ? " 

So  they  galloped,  and  Hugh  Marvin  let  slip 
his  opportunity.  Perhaps  he  was  a  "  stupid  "  as 
Lida  Hallam  had  said. 


214 


XXI 

HUGH  MARVIN  MAKES  UP   HIS  MIND 

SOON  after  that  ride  Gabrielle  Latour  re 
turned  a  number  of  the  periodicals  to 
their  giver,  with  articles  marked  in  them 
for  his  reading.  After  a  little  while  the  young 
man  began  haunting  the  local  bookstore,  going 
thither  of  evenings  to  look  over  the  new  books 
and  more  particularly  the  old  books.  He  was 
by  all  odds  the  best  read  and  the  most  cultivated 
man  in  Cairo,  and  so  all  the  men  in  the  town 
who  had  aspirations  of  culture  learned  presently 
to  haunt  the  bookshop  "to  hear  Hugh  Marvin 
talk  books,"  they  said.  And  as  the  young 
man  bought  books  in  considerable  numbers 
and  sent  them  to  Gabrielle,  the  bookseller 
was  glad  enough  to  let  him  read  aloud  from 
the  "stock"  whenever  he  chose  to  "talk 
books"  to  a  little  company  that  became  inter- 
215 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

ested  in  the  talk  and  bought  a  book  now  and 
then. 

One  evening,  for  example,  Hugh  Marvin  fell 
to  talking  about  Thomas  Moore's  prefaces,  and, 
borrowing  the  books  from  the  shelves,  read 
aloud  those  pessimistic  predictions  of  the  Irish 
poet  concerning  America  which  events  had  so 
conspicuously  refused  to  fulfil.  The  reading  so 
far  interested  one  member  of  the  little  audience 
that  he  instantly  bought  the  entire  set  of  books, 
which  the  dealer  had  kept  for  three  years  on  his 
shelves  as  "dead  stock." 

About  that  same  time  Marvin  learned  that 
Gabrielle  had  not  yet  read  Dickens  except 
here  and  there  a  volume.  So  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  send  her  a  good  set  of  the  great  novel 
ist's  works.  He  directed  the  bookseller  to  send 
her  the  Globe  edition,  at  that  time  the  best  there 
was  in  American  print.  The  next  day  he  called 
upon  Gabrielle,  and  she  thanked  him  for  the 
books.  Upon  inspection  he  discovered  that 
instead  of  the  edition  he  had  ordered,  the  book 
seller  had  sent  a  cheap,  meanly  printed,  and 
paper-covered  set  called  the  "Plum  Pudding" 
216 


HUGH    MARVIN  MAKES  UP  HIS  MIND 

edition.  The  dealer  had  mistaken  the  plum- 
pudding  printed  upon  the  paper  covers  for  a 
globe. 

That  set  was  promptly  sent  back,  and  that 
evening  the  bookseller  received  an  instructive 
lecture  from  Hugh  Marvin  on  the  duty  of  a 
dealer  in  books  to  acquaint  himself  with  edi 
tions.  The  young  man,  warming  to  his  sub 
ject,  went  on  to  explain  to  the  bookseller  that 
his  business  was  more  than  mercantile,  that 
its  pursuit  entailed  upon  him  the  duty  of  guid 
ing  the  popular  taste  as  regards  books,  and  a 
good  deal  more  of  like  effect. 

"You  must  read,"  he  said.  "You  must 
study.  You  must  acquaint  yourself  with  lit 
erature  and  with  the  geography  of  literature  — 
I  mean  with  editions.  You  should  know  all 
about  books,  and  tell  your  customers  about 
them.  You  should  make  yourself  the  guide 
and  monitor  of  those  who  buy." 

The  ethics  of  the  book-selling  craft  may  or 

may  not  have  appealed  to  the  dealer,  but  the 

thought  found  lodgement  in  his  mind  that  by 

acquainting   himself   somewhat    with   the   mer- 

217 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

chandise  he  dealt  in,  he  might  considerably  in 
crease  his  sales,  and  accordingly  he  began  a 
diligent  study  of  descriptive  catalogues,  which 
soon  made  him  more  successful  than  he  had 
ever  been  before  as  a  vender  of  the  merchan 
dise  of  the  mind. 

In  the  meanwhile,  a  good  edition  of  Dickens 
was  procured  for  Gabrielle  Latour,  and  she  fell 
to  reading  it  ravenously.  As  a  very  natural 
and  necessary  result,  she  and  Hugh  Marvin 
fell  into  the  habit  of  spending  the  lengthening 
early  winter  evenings  in  a  discussion  of  these 
and  other  books,  and  incidentally  of  art,  music, 
and  the  drama,  of  which  the  girl  knew  a  good 
deal,  and  Hugh  Marvin  very  little  indeed. 

But  with  such  a  teacher  he  was  eager  to 
learn,  and  that  counted  for  a  good  deal. 

Lida  Hallam  looked  on  at  this  little  drama 
with  pleased  interest,  but  she  said  no  word  that 
might  suggest  that  she  was  taking  notes,  even 
after  the  reading  had  taken  a  wider  range. 

Hugh  Marvin  was  far  less  pleased  with 
results.  In  her  literary  tastes  and  judgments 
Gabrielle  always  maintained  a  pleasing  inde- 
218 


HUGH   MARVIN  MAKES  UP  HIS  MIND 

pendence  of  mind,  but  in  her  attitude  toward 
him  personally,  she  seemed  still  to  suggest 
far  more  of  gratitude  and  deference  than  he 
desired.  Perhaps  he  was  mistaken  in  this. 
Sometimes,  for  a  moment,  he  believed  that  he 
was  so,  and  in  such  moments  he  was  full  of 
hope  and  rejoicing.  These  moments  were  tran 
sitory,  however,  so  that  generally  the  young 
man's  mood  was  one  of  disappointment. 

"I  am  making  of  myself  too  much  of  the 
schoolmaster,"  he  reflected.  "  I  wonder  if  a 
girl  ever  fell  in  love  with  her  schoolmaster  ? " 

Then  after  a  little  the  thought  came  to 
him  :  — 

"  How  would  it  do  to  treat  her  with  neglect 
now  and  then  ?  She  is  filled  with  the  idea 
that  I  am  somehow  a  half-parental  guardian 
to  her,  a  sort  of  benefactor  to  whom  she  must 
pay  the  profoundest  deference,  when  it  isn't 
deference  that  I  want.  This  is  a  good  time 
perhaps  to  make  a  change  in  my  methods. 
The  winter  movement  of  merchandise  has  set 
in,  and  I  really  am  an  exceedingly  busy  man. 
I  might  easily  stay  away  a  good  deal,  I  suppose. 
219 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

The  pressure  of  business  upon  my  time  and 
attention  would  be  excuse  enough  for  that. 
But  confound  this  Cairo  climate,  the  mornings 
are  still  fine,  almost  all  of  them,  and  she  knows 
I'm  not  too  busy  for  a  ride  between  five  and 
seven  o'clock.  Besides,  I  don't  feel  like  riding 
alone,  when  so  charming  a  companion  is  ready 
to  ride  with  me.  Then  again,  I  wouldn't  for 
anything  have  Gabrielle  feel  herself  neglected." 

He  was  sitting  in  his  rooms  as  he  pondered 
all  these  things.  There  was  a  blazing  fire  of 
Pittsburg  coal  in  the  grate  in  front  of  him. 
A  softly  shaded  lamp  burned  on  the  table, 
casting  its  light  over  his  left  shoulder.  He 
had  meant  to  read  during  that  evening,  and  he 
had  arranged  all  his  surroundings  with  refer 
ence  to  that  purpose.  But  now  that  he  had 
fallen  into  meditation  with  Gabrielle  Latour  for 
its  subject,  he  had  pushed  his  book  aside  in 
order  that  he  might  go  on  dreaming. 

"  I  suppose  the  simple  fact  is,"   he  said  to 
himself,  "  that  my  only  way  out  of   this  mess 
is  to  take   the   bull    by  the  horns,  and   boldly 
propose  marriage  to  Gabrielle." 
220 


HUGH   MARVIN   MAKES   UP   HIS   MIND 

Then  he  let  his  mind  wander  and  wander 
for  a  while. 

At  last  he  thought :  — 

"  After  all,  I  don't  know  what  her  attitude 
toward  me  really  is.  She  is  an  immeasurably 
proud  woman.  She  would  sacrifice  her  head 
rather  than  let  any  man  so  much  as  suspect  that 
she  loved  him,  until  after  he  had  invited  her 
to  do  so.  By  Jove,  I'll  risk  everything  on  a 
chance  !  Lida  says  I  should  take  measures  to 
suggest  my  state  of  mind  to  Gabrielle.  Very 
well,  I  have  done  so,  with  no  apparent  results. 
By  the  way,  I  wonder  just  what  constitutes 
'suggestion  '  and  what  its  laws  and  limits  are? 
Now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  suppose  I  '  suggested ' 
something  to  Ezra  Brass  down  there  at  Mem 
phis  when  I  pitched  him  overboard  and  left 
him  to  work  out  his  own  salvation  by  swim 
ming.  I  must  have  '  suggested '  to  his  mind 
that  on  the  whole  it  was  safer  not  to  make 
ribald  suggestions  concerning  a  woman  under 
my  protection  in  my  presence.  Yes,  there 
are  various  methods  of  '  suggestion  '  possible. 
I'll  declare  my  state  of  mind  to  Gabrielle,  and 

221 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

ask  her  to  be  my  wife.  The  very  worst  she 
can  do  is  to  reject  my  suit.  After  that  per 
haps  she  may  think  about  me  otherwise  than 
as  a  kindly  benefactor  or  a  half-fatherly  big 
brother.  And  who  knows  ?  After  I  have 
forced  her  to  think  about  me  in  warmer  ways, 
who  knows  but  that  the  new  thought  may 
appeal  to  her?  Anyhow,  I'll  try  it." 

But  this  resolution  was  taken  in  the  night, 
under  influence  of  a  soft  light  and  a  glowing 
coal  fire.  It  seemed  less  wise  in  the  gray  of 
the  next  morning,  and  so  young  Marvin  post 
poned  its  execution  for  a  'time. 


222 


XXII 

"YOU  ARE   THE   RIGHTEST  MAN" 

IT  was  about  this  time  that  John  Land  re 
turned    to    Cairo,  bearing   with    him   the 
spoils    of    his    adventure    in   serving   the 
government  and  swindling  it. 

There  was  no  obvious  reason  why  he  should 
return  to  Cairo  at  all.  With  half  a  million  dol 
lars  in  possession,  the  world  lay  all  before  him 
where  to  choose.  He  had  no  ties  of  kindred 
in  Cairo,  and  the  little  city  at  that  time  certainly 
offered  few  inducements  to  a  man  of  wealth 
to  take  up  his  residence  there.  There  were 
next  to  no  opportunities  there  for  the  spending 
of  money  in  pursuit  of  enjoyment. 

But  John  Land  was  as  vain  as  a  peacock. 
He  had  been  an  insignificant  clerk  in  Cairo, 
sleeping  in  a  little  room  in  a  ramshackle  build 
ing  on  the  levee,  and  getting  his  meals  where- 
ever  he  could  get  them  cheapest.  It  pleased 
223 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

him,  therefore,  to  go  back  to  Cairo  and  exploit 
himself  there  as  a  man  of  wealth  and  therefore 
of  consequence ;  for  in  those  days  in  the  West 
wealth  always  carried  consequence  with  it. 

His  impulse  was  not  an  unnatural  one.  We 
all  know  how  Shakespeare,  as  soon  as  he  ac 
cumulated  money,  abandoned  all  the  joys  of 
his  rich  intellectual  life  in  London,  his  associa 
tion  there  with  the  foremost  men  of  his  time, 
and  his  contact  with  that  active,  seething, 
intellectual  movement  which  had  so  greatly 
inspired  him,  and  deliberately  retired  to  Strat 
ford,  merely  in  order  that  he  might  buy  a  little 
property  there  and  ruffle  it  on  equal  terms  with 
a  lot  of  "  squires "  whose  learning  was  nil, 
and  whose  intellectual  activity  scarcely  rose 
above  that  of  clams  or  clods. 

Shakespeare  went  to  Stratford  because  he 
wanted  to  "show  off"  to  the  astonishment 
of  those  who  had  known  him  as  a  vagabond  in 
his  youth.  John  Land  was  in  no  sense  a 
Shakespeare,  but  his  impulse  was  the  same. 
He  wanted  to  ruffle  it  among  the  people  who 
had  formerly  known  him  as  an  impecunious 
224 


"YOU    ARE    THE    RIGHTEST    MAN" 

young  man,  whose  credit  was  not  good  for  a 
week's  table-board  at  any  eating  house  in  the 
town.  It  was  among  those  people  only  that 
he  could  get  complete  satisfaction  out  of  a 
display  of  his  wealth. 

And  how  he  did  put  it  in  evidence !  He 
rented  the  whole  front  of  the  first  floor  above 
stairs  of  the  St.  Charles  Hotel.  In  order  to 
complete  his  suite  he  even  bought  out  the  lease 
of  one  old  lady  who  had  planned  to  remain 
where  she  was  for  the  rest  of  her  natural  life. 
He  set  up  a  stable  and  stocked  it  with  fine  horses, 
several  of  which  he  dared  not  drive  or  ride. 
For  in  spite  of  his  great  stature  and  his 
strength  and  his  personal  presence,  John  Land 
was  in  his  soul  a  coward.  That  fact  indeed  and 
his  vanity  had  been  the  keynotes  of  his  career. 
He  had  entered  college  with  so  great  a  flourish 
of  trumpets  as  to  be  made  at  once  the  rec 
ognized  leader  of  his  class.  He  had  spent 
the  little  money  he  possessed  so  lavishly 
that  before  the  end  of  his  second  year  he  had 
been  obliged  to  withdraw  himself  for  lack  of 
funds.  He  gave  it  out  that  the  further  pros- 
225 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

ecution  of  the  course  of  study  had  no  interest 
for  him. 

"  It  is  all  very  well  for  plodders,"  he  had  said 
to  his  classmates  with  lofty  superiority,  "but 
if  a  man  has  any  initiative  in  him,  it  is  only  a 
waste  of  time." 

Now  that  he  had  become  a  very  rich  man 
his  first  purpose  was  to  make  the  fact  manifest 
to  those  who  had  known  him  in  a  greatly 
inferior  estate. 

And  now  another  thing  happened  which 
illustrated  the  weakness  of  human  nature. 
The  young  man  who  was  known  to  have  half 
a  million  dollars  in  bank  —  for  news  of  that 
kind  runs  on  four  fast  legs  —  was  beset  by 
invitations  to  houses  into  which  six  months 
earlier  —  when  he  had  possessed  nothing  but 
the  meagre  salary  of  an  inferior  clerk  —  he 
would  have  sought  entry  in  vain.  In  those 
greedily  grabbing  days  near  the  end  of  the 
war,  wealth  was  the  one  passport  to  social 
esteem,  not  in  Cairo  alone,  but  in  every  city 
of  the  country.  It  was  a  grovelling  time.  The 
multi-millionnaire  of  the  present  did  not  exist 
226 


"YOU    ARE    THE    RIGHTEST    MAN" 

then,  but  the  man  whose  wealth  was  reckoned 
in  six  figures  had  open  doors  and  glad  greet 
ings  wherever  he  might  go. 

Very  naturally  John  Land  now  and  then  met 
Gabrielle  Latour  in  the  houses  of  the  many 
friends  of  Mrs.  Will  Hallam,  though  Gabrielle 
attended  no  social  functions.  She  felt  herself 
to  be  in  mourning  still,  although  she  did  not 
drape  herself  in  black.  Moreover,  she  felt  her 
self  socially  out  of  place  and  a  misfit  at  the 
North  so  long  as  the  war,  now  obviously  draw 
ing  to  an  end,  should  continue. 

"The  spring  will  end  it  all,"  said  Hugh 
Marvin  to  her  one  day.  "  Lee's  power  of 
resistance  is  very  nearly  exhausted.  As  soon 
as  the  winter's  mud  dries  in  the  Virginia  roads, 
Grant  with  his  practically  limitless  numbers 
of  men  will  stretch  his  line  farther  and  farther 
south  and  west  at  Petersburg.  The  stretching 
will  reduce  Lee's  lines  to  nothingness  of  re 
sisting  power.  Then  Grant  will  concentrate 
at  some  point,  chosen  by  himself,  and  break 
through  the  army  that  has  so  long  and  so 
stubbornly  held  him  at  bay." 
227 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

"And  do  you  rejoice  in  that  prospect,  Mr. 
Marvin  ? "  asked  the  girl,  with  a  glint  as  of 
lightning  in  her  great  brown  eyes. 

"Yes  and  no.  It  is  a  pity  that  an  army 
so  devoted  and  so  heroic  as  that  of  Northern 
Virginia  must  be  cut  to  pieces  and  forced  to 
surrender  in  despair.  But  as  that  result  is 
inevitable,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  sooner  it 
comes  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  people  on 
both  sides.  At  any  rate  it  will  make  an  end 
of  the  wholesale  plundering  that  is  now  ram 
pant,  with  its  headquarters  here  in  Cairo. 
Perhaps  incidentally  it  may  so  far  sober  the 
country  as  to  remove  from  politics  and  power 
a  horde  of  rascally  incapables  who  under 
present  conditions  have  seats  in  Congress  or 
offices  of  other  kinds  to  which  they  could 
never  have  aspired  in  any  but  war  times." 

"Are  there  many  such?"  she  asked. 

"A  good  many,"  he  replied.  "I  know 
some  of  them.  One  is  a  rascally  ex-bar 
keeper  who  for  a  time  represented  in  Con 
gress  a  district  not  very  remote  from  here. 
In  any  ordinary  time  the  suggestion  of  such 
228 


"YOU    ARE    THE    RIGHTEST    MAN" 

a  man  for  a  seat  in  Congress  would  have 
been  laughed  at  by  everybody.  But  in  these 
disturbed  times,  when  nearly  everybody  except 
the  speculating  and  peculating  politicians  is 
in  the  army,  this  fellow  Rukensdorff  man 
aged  in  corrupt  ways  to  secure  a  nomination 
and  an  election.  He  shamelessly  used  his 
place  for  plunder,  and  now  that  he  has  been 
left  out  of  Congress  by  a  new  election,  he 
still  conducts  a  considerable  blackmailing  cor 
respondence,  franking  his  letters  with  his 
signature,  G.  W.  Rukensdorff,  M.C.,  although 
he  is  no  longer  a  member  of  Congress  and 
has  no  more  right  to  frank  his  letters  than 
to  steal  so  many  postage-stamps  out  of  the 
nearest  post-office.  His  case  is  an  extreme 
one,  perhaps,  but  it  is  illustrative.  The  de 
moralization  of  war  has  not  led  to  a  Congress 
composed  mainly  of  such  men  as  he  is,  but 
it  has  given  to  many  such  men  their  oppor 
tunity.  So  long  as  the  war  lasts,  the  number 
of  such  men  in  Congress,  in  State  Legislatures, 
and  in  office  must  continue  to  increase." 
"But  you  say  that  this  man  Rukensdorff 
229 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

has  been  defeated  by  reelection.  Things  are 
growing  better  then." 

"Not  at  all.  Rukensdorff  was  defeated  by 
another  and  a  worse  rascal  named  Avalon,  who 
happens  to  possess  superior  ability  and  more 
money.  He's  a  '  general '  in  a  small  way  — 
general  of  militia  perhaps.  Anyhow  he's  a 
smooth-tongued,  plausible,  sanctimonious  per 
son —  well,  never  mind  about  him.  I  had  an 
opportunity  once  to  send  him  to  state's  prison, 
but  I  didn't  do  it." 

"Why  didn't  you,  if  he  deserved  it?" 

"  Well,  you  see,  his  wife  came  to  me  and 
begged  me  '  spare  him,'  and  I  couldn't  resist  a 
woman's  tears." 

"  I  thought  you  were  a  strong  man,  Mr.  Mar 
vin  !  "  answered  the  girl,  with  a  note  of  distinct 
displeasure  in  her  voice. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  am  a  strong  man  or 
not,"  he  replied.  "  But  in  this  case  the  circum 
stances  were  peculiar.  The  man  concerned 
once  did  me  a  grievous  injury,  and  in  my  wrath 
I  swore  that  I  would  have  my  revenge.  But  — 
well,  when  I  had  him  completely  in  my  power, 
230 


"YOU    ARE    THE    RIGHTEST   MAN 

when  it  rested  only  with  me  to  produce  a  scrap 
of  paper  in  order  to  condemn  him  to  hard  labor 
for  a  long  term  of  years,  I  thought  that  after 
all  vengeance  doesn't  '  pay,'  as  we  say  in  this 
very  commercial  time.  I  did  not  think  I 
should  be  the  happier  for  having  wreaked  ven 
geance  upon  that  man,  particularly  when  I  saw 
other  rascals  all  around  me  rejoicing  in  the  rich 
proceeds  of  their  rascality.  There  was  in  that 
man's  case  nobody's  wrong  to  set  right,  and 
when  I  thought  of  the  disgrace  that  must  fall 
upon  his  wife  and  upon  those  innocent  boys 
and  girls  of  his,  I  went  to  the  fire  and  burned 
the  paper  that  would  have  sent  him  to  the  peni 
tentiary.  His  wife  saw  me  do  it,  and  she 
knew  certainly  that  the  document  was  reduced 
to  ashes.  Immediately  her  husband  sought  and 
bought  his  nomination  for  Congress,  and  was 
elected,  there  being  practically  no  opposition  in 
the  district.  After  that  —  well,  never  mind. 
That's  another  matter." 

"No,  it  isn't,"  answered  the  girl,  quickly,  and 
with  eager  earnestness.     "  I  want  to  know  the 
sequel  to  the  story.     I  think  I  know  it  already." 
231 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  What  is  your  conjecture  ?  " 

"  The  woman  for  whose  sake  you  spared  that 
man  became  your  most  implacable  enemy  as 
soon  as  she  certainly  knew  you  had  destroyed 
the  only  evidence  you  had  with  which  to  con 
vict  her  husband.  Is  it  not  so  ?" 

"  The  woman  is  my  enemy  certainly.  She 
has  sought  in  every  way  she  could  to  injure  me. 
But  I  regard  all  that  as  right  enough.  She 
is  loyal  to  her  husband,  and  when  a  woman  is 
that,  I  think  nothing  else  counts." 

The  girl  had  risen  to  her  feet  in  her  eager 
earnestness  of  attention.  Presently  she  said:  — 

"  Hugh  Marvin,  you  are  the  rightest  man  I 
ever  knew  or  heard  of  !  " 

Instantly  she  left  him,  and  that  night  she 
excused  herself  from  supper,  so  that  he  saw  her 
no  more. 


232 


XXIII 

PERSONA  NON  GRATA 

IF  John  Land  had  had  any  courage,  or  if  he 
had  been  a  tolerably  honest  man,  he  would 
have  been  limitlessly  happy  at  this  time. 

As  it  was,  he  was  utterly  and  ceaselessly 
miserable. 

The  man  was  by  nature  an  optimist.  The 
world  was  apt  to  wear  for  him  a  smiling  face 
whenever  it  could,  and  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
returning  the  smiles  with  a  compound  interest  of 
jolly  laughter.  When  he  had  been  a  poor  clerk 
with  less  than  enough  salary  to  meet  his  ex 
penses,  he  had  always  put  on  so  great  an  air  of 
prosperity  that  he  was  able  to  borrow  of  his 
fellow-clerks  enough  money  to  make  good  the 
deficiencies  of  his  income  as  compared  with  his 
expenditures  for  clothes  and  other  necessaries. 
He  had  not  paid  back  these  loans  at  the  time, 

233 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

but  somehow  he  managed  to  seem  so  prosperous 
and  so  well  dressed,  and  so  confident  of  himself 
and  of  the  future,  that  those  who  had  lent  him 
money  were  disposed  to  feel  that  John  Land 
was  "  able  to  owe  his  debts,"  and  so  they  rarely 
beset  him  with  duns.  Whenever  one  of  them 
did  so,  Land  promptly  borrowed  enough  from 
some  other  to  satisfy  the  claim  and,  as  he 
put  it,  "leave  him  a  few  dollars  to  the  good." 

Now  that  he  had  come  back  to  Cairo  with 
what  in  that  time  was  regarded  as  large  wealth, 
he  rather  ostentatiously  paid  off  his  borrowings, 
insisting  upon  adding  interest  in  every  case. 
In  that  way  he  emphasized  his  wealth  and  won 
credit  for  a  generosity  that  men  admired. 

At  one  time  he  planned  to  give  a  banquet  at 
the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  to  which  every  man  who 
had  ever  lent  him  money  should  be  invited. 
It  was  his  plan  to  give  to  each  of  them  a 
souvenir  which  might  impress  each  with  the 
conviction  that  in  lending  money  to  John  Land 
he  had  made  no  mistake. 

Napper  Tandry  had  persuaded  him  not  to  do 
this. 

234 


PERSONA   NON   GRATA 

"Now  that  you  are  one  of  us,"  he  said,  "you 
cannot  afford  to  know  these  people  except  as 
the  underlings  of  business.  When  you  meet 
one  of  them,  you  can  graciously  remember 
his  name,  and  ask  how  he  is  getting  on,  and 
all  that ;  but  you  can't  afford  to  resume 
personal  relations  with  such  people.  Jolly 
them,  of  course,  to  show  that  you're  not 
proud  ;  ask  each  one  of  them  if  there  is  any 
thing  you  can  do  for  him,  and  let  it  go  at 
that." 

John  Land  had  a  good  deal  of  pleasure  in 
carrying  out  this  program.  It  was  a  gratifica 
tion  to  his  self-centred  soul  to  look  down  upon 
a  young  man  of  whom  he  had  once  borrowed 
a  few  dollars,  and  be  gracious  and  condescend 
ing  enough  to  greet  him  cheerily  and  wish  him 
well,  and  incidentally  emphasize  the  vast  dif 
ference  there  now  was  between  the  two. 
He  usually  wound  up  such  meetings  by  say 
ing:— 

"  You  must  be  going,  I  suppose  —  can't 
afford  to  be  late  at  the  office,  eh  ?  Same  old 
grind?  Oh,  by  the  way,  I've  got  to  go,  too  — 

235 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

I'm  to  meet  some  tiresome  financial  people  at 
the  bank  at  ten  o'clock.  Gcod-by.  Take  care 
of  yourself." 

Nevertheless  John  Land  was  miserable.  It 
was  not  because  he  had  dishonestly  got  his 
money.  That  fact  in  itself  would  never  have 
troubled  him  in  the  least.  It  was  not  that 
everybody  around  him  knew  or  suspected  his 
dishonesty.  What  does  a  man  whose  fortune 
is  reckoned  in  six  figures  care  about  other 
people's  opinions  ?  It  was  only  that  John  Land 
was  a  coward  in  his  soul  —  too  cowardly  to 
meet  the  consequences  of  his  own  rascality 
with  a  brave  front. 

He  did  not  dare  invest  his  money  in  any 
thing  but  government  bonds  which  could  be 
hidden  away,  lest  the  government  should  some 
fine  morning  ask  him  to  give  an  account  of 
himself. 

He  enjoyed  posing  among  men  of  affairs  as 
a  capitalist  whose  assistance  they  needed,  but 
it  was  only  in  surreptitious  ways  and  under 
cover  of  some  other  person's  name  that  he 
invested  in  their  enterprises. 
236 


PERSONA    NON    GRATA 

The  nights  were  the  worst  for  him.  He  had 
a  happy  faculty  of  going  to  sleep  promptly ;  but 
he  had  an  unhappy  faculty  of  waking  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  thinking  of 
things.  The  demon  of  cowardice  beset  him 
then.  He  would  wonder  what  might  happen 
should  any  active  agent  of  the  government 
learn  what  he  had  done  and  call  it  into  ques 
tion.  As  he  lay  there,  half  sleeping,  half 
waking,  he  imagined  his  own  arrest,  his  incar 
ceration,  his  prosecution,  perhaps  with  his 
Memphis  partners  as  government  witnesses. 
He  remembered  that  he  had  allowed  them  none 
too  large  a  share  of  his  winnings.  It  was  easy 
enough  to  imagine  that  they  might  turn  against 
him  upon  a  promise  of  exemption  from  punish 
ment,  tell  the  whole  story,  send  him  to  prison, 
and  themselves  go  scot  free  with  their  share  of 
the  booty.  Indeed,  if  any  trouble  should  come, 
that  would  be  their  obvious  course  of  procedure. 
The  government  would  need  their  testimony, 
and  for  the  sake  of  it  would  give  them  im 
munity,  dismissing  them  as  minor  and  repent 
ant  offenders,  though  not  asking  them  to  bring 

237 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance  by  restoring 
their  share  of  the  plunder. 

All  these  and  a  thousand  other  phantasms 
haunted  John  Land  in  his  dreams  and  beset 
his  waking  hours. 

He  secretly  hired  a  house  in  Kentucky,  just 
across  the  Ohio  River,  and  another  in  Missouri, 
just  across  the  Mississippi,  and  he  used  to  sleep 
in  one  or  the  other  of  them  when  his  fears 
haunted  him  too  horribly  to  permit  sleep  to 
visit  him  in  Cairo.  He  knew  of  course  that 
the  process  of  a  United  States  court  reaches 
into  every  State,  but  he  had  the  comforting 
thought  that  a  marshal  seeking  to  serve  such  a 
process  would  go  first  to  Cairo,  and  not  finding 
him  there,  would  wait  to  make  inquiry,  knowing 
nothing  of  his  sleeping  places  in  other  States. 
That  might  give  him  time  to  run  away. 

By  daylight  John  Land  was  far  less  nervous. 
He  had  established  communication  with  Wash 
ington,  and  had  made  an  arrangement  there  by 
which  he  was  to  be  secretly  notified  by  cipher 
telegram  if  any  action  should  be  taken  looking 
toward  an  inquiry  into  his  transactions,  He 
238 


PERSONA    NON    GRATA 

had  passage  conditionally  engaged  upon  every 
steamer  sailing  out  of  New  York,  and  he  kept 
his  affairs  in  such  shape  that  he  could  run  upon 
an  hour's  notice.  In  the  night-time  these  ar 
rangements  did  not  fully  satisfy  his  mind,  and 
therefore  many  of  his  nights  were  passed  in 
Kentucky  or  in  Missouri.  Other  nights  and  all 
his  days  he  passed  in  Cairo,  where  he  had 
delight  in  exploiting  himself. 

He  had  made  acquaintance  with  Gabrielle 
Latour  by  mere  chance,  and  he  followed  it  up 
with  a  zeal  that  was  admirable  in  its  way.  The 
girl  fascinated  him  so  far  that  he  even  ventured 
to  visit  her  at  Captain  Will  Hallam's  house. 
He  did  so  only  once.  Then  Lida  Hallam  put 
her  imperative  feminine  veto  upon  his  further 
visits.  She  went  with  him  to  the  door,  and 
said  to  him  :  — 

"  You  ought  to  understand,  Mr.  Land,  and 
probably  you  do  understand,  that  you  are  per 
sona  non  grata  in  this  house." 

That  ought  to  have  been  enough  even  for 
John  Land's  assurance,  but  it  was  not. 

"Oh,  Mrs.    Hallam,"  he   said,    "you're    not 

239 


A    DAUGHTER   OF    THE   SOUTH 

the  kind  to  bear  old  grudges.  Your  suggestion 
would  have  been  conclusive  to  me  in  those  old 
days  when  I  was  Captain  Will's  clerk,  but  things 
have  greatly  changed  since  then.  You  surely 
do  not  mean  to  forbid  me  the  house  now  that  I 
am  in  a  position  to  become  Captain  Will's  asso 
ciate  in  great  business  enterprises  any  day." 

Lida  Hallam  looked  at  him  out  of  those  great 
brown  eyes  of  hers  and  answered  :  — 

"  I  don't  know  whether  Captain  Hallam  will 
ever  have  business  relations  with  you  or  not. 
That  is  his  business.  But  you  are  to  under 
stand  and  remember  that  I  forbid  you  to  enter 
my  door  again.  Now  go,  and  don't  again  for 
get  yourself." 

But  while  Mrs.  Hallam  was  bold  and  resolute 
of  speech  in  thus  dismissing  her  unwelcome 
guest,  she  was  a  woman  who  never  needlessly 
talked  in  criticism  of  anybody.  She  therefore 
said  nothing  to  Gabrielle  concerning  this  matter 
or  concerning  John  Land.  She  did  not  deem  it 
necessary.  It  seemed  to  her  enough  that  she 
had  so  peremptorily  forbidden  him  the  house. 

As  a  consequence,  Gabrielle  had  no  reason 
240 


PERSONA    NON    GRATA 

to  be  on  her  guard  against  Land  when  she 
happened  to  meet  him  in  other  people's  houses. 
She  met  him  thus  some  time  afterward,  and  he 
said  something  to  her  that  had  its  effect  upon 
her  life.  He  had  become  an  intimate  of  Ezra 
Brass,  and  Ezra  Brass  had  given  him  certain 
information. 


241 


XXIV 

A  RATHER   BAD   NIGHT 

WHEN  Gabrielle  Latour   so   abruptly 
left    Hugh    Marvin's  presence  after 
telling  him,   "You  are  the  rightest 
man  I  ever  knew  or  heard  of,"  and  still  further 
avoided  meeting  him  at  supper,  the  young  man 
had  a  season  of  self-communion. 

Bidding  his  sister  good  night  immediately 
after  supper,  he  went  first  to  his  office  and 
then  to  his  bachelor  rooms,  where  he  sat  late 
before  the  coal  fire,  thinking,  questioning,  won 
dering. 

At  first  the  girl's  conduct  puzzled  him,  but 
after  a  while  he  began  to  understand  it,  or  he 
thought  he  did. 

"After   all,"   he   thought,   "perhaps    I    have 
been  more  successful  than  I  have  dared  believe 
in  my  efforts  to  suggest  to  her  mind  the  state 
242 


A    RATHER    BAD    NIGHT 

of  my  feelings.  Perhaps  this  evening's  incident 
is  a  suggestion  in  response  —  utterly  unintended 
of  course.  She  would  never  think  of  giving  me 
an  intentional  hint  on  such  a  subject.  She 
would  bite  the  end  of  her  tongue  off  rather 
than  that.  What  she  said  was  said  upon  sud 
den  impulse,  just  as  one  might  say,  'Oh,  thank 
you  very  much,'  or  anything  of  that  kind. 
But  the  moment  the  words  were  out  of  her 
mouth  she  saw  their  possible  misconstruction 
—  or  perhaps  their  right  construction,  who 
knows  ?  The  words  and  the  sudden  impulse 
that  forced  their  utterance  may  have  revealed 
to  her  something  of  her  own  state  of  mind,  — 
something  of  which  she  had  not  herself  been 
conscious  until  then.  In  that  case  her  sudden 
running  away  and  her  refusal  to  present  herself 
at  the  supper  table  are  fully  accounted  for. 
Pride  is  the  dominant  characteristic  of  her 
nature.  I  shall  never  forget  how,  when  she 
was  nearly  famished  on  the  steamboat,  she 
wanted  to  starve  rather  than  accept  the  hos 
pitality  which  she  called  my  'bounty.'  Yes, 
that  is  a  fair  construction  to  put  upon  her  con- 

243 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

duct  to-night.  She  had  betrayed  herself,  and 
she  realized  the  fact." 

This  thought  was  one  altogether  pleasing  to 
the  young  man.  And  yet  he  dared  not  accept 
it  too  confidently.  There  might  be  other  ex 
planations  of  what  had  happened,  and  the  fear 
of  these  greatly  modified  the  joy  he  felt  in  his 
previous  thought.  At  last  he  rose  impatiently 
and  stood  with  his  back  to  the  fire. 

"  Pshaw  !  "  he  exclaimed  presently.  "  You're 
a  coward,  Hugh  Marvin !  I  never  suspected 
the  fact  before,  but  it  is  a  fact ! " 

Then  after  a  little  he  decided  :  — 

"  I'll  solve  the  whole  matter  once  for  all. 
I'll  go  to  her  to-morrow  like  a  man,  and  tell 
her  of  my  feeling  for  her.  I'll  approach  her 
with  the  courage  that  such  a  woman  as  she  has 
a  right  to  expect  of  any  man  asking  for  her 
hand  —  ugh  !  how  I  hate  that  phrase,  at  least 
in  any  case  involving  her.  I  shall  not  ask 
for  her  hand.  I  shall  tell  her  I  love  her,  and 
ask  her  to  be  my  wife.  I  wish  it  were  not  so 
absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  go  down  the 
river  on  the  Lady  Gay !  Still,  I  don't  know 
244 


A    RATHER    BAD    NIGHT 

so  well  about  that.  Under  certain  circum 
stances  that  are  not  improbable  it  may  be  a 
relief  to  go  away  for  a  time.  I  wonder  when 
the  Lady  Gay  will  be  ready  to  sail !  " 

Looking  up  at  the  clock,  he  saw  that  it  was 
nearly  two  in  the  morning.  Time  had  passed 
more  rapidly  than  he  had  realized. 

"  I'll  go  down  to  the  office,"  he  resolved.  "  I 
haven't  paid  the  boys  a  late  night  visit  for  a 
week." 

When  he  entered  the  office,  he  found  the 
clerks  sufficiently  busy  to  satisfy  his  rather 
exacting  ideas  of  duty. 

"  Has  the  Lady  Gay  arrived  yet  ? "  he  asked 
his  chief  shipping  clerk. 

"  Yes.  She's  at  the  wharf-boat  —  got  in  an 
hour  ago,  but  hasn't  yet  finished  taking  on  the 
freight  there." 

"  Very  well.  When  she  gets  that  aboard,  she 
will  drop  down  to  the  warehouse  for  the  main 
cargo.  How  much  freight  are  "we  sending  by 
her?" 

"About  a  thousand  tons." 

"  And  her  capacity  is  two  thousand  ? " 

245 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

"Yes,  if  she  loads  to  the  guards.  But  a 
thousand  is  quite  all  the  captain  cares  to 
carry,  I  imagine,  with  ice  in  the  river ;  and  at 
the  present  high  freight  rates,  that's  mighty 
good  even  for  so  big  a  boat." 

"Yes,  pretty  good.  How  long  will  it  take 
with  her  crew  —  I  don't  know  how  many  roust 
abouts  she  has  —  how  long  will  it  take  for  her 
crew  to  get  all  the  freight  on  board  ? " 

"She  ought  to  do  it  by  ten  o'clock  this 
morning.  But  we  can  hurry  matters  by  hiring 
a  shore  gang,  if  you  like." 

"  No,  don't  hurry.  By  the  way,  you  might 
give  her  all  the  hay  in  the  warehouse,  and  that 
consignment  of  fifteen  hundred  barrels  of  lime 
for  Memphis.  That  will  give  her  a  full  load." 

"Yes,  a  very  full  load.  But  if  we  do  that, 
she  simply  can't  get  away  before  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening." 

"That  doesn't  matter.  None  of  the  freight 
we  are  giving  her  is  on  hurry  orders." 

"  But  she  has  brought  thirty  or  forty  passen 
gers  from  St.  Louis,  and  they  are  complaining 
already  because  of  the  delay  for  cargo  here. 
246 


A    RATHER    BAD    NIGHT 

They'll  make  the  captain  gray-haired  if  the 
boat  is  kept  here  eight  hours  longer  than  they 
have  been  told."  And  the  clerk  laughed. 

"  She's  an  unusually  comfortable  boat,"  an 
swered  Marvin.  "  They  won't  suffer.  Tell  the 
captain  he  is  to  take  all  the  freight  he  can 
carry,  and  give  it  to  him.  Good  night." 

After  he  had  gone,  one  of  the  younger 
clerks  said  to  his  senior :  — 

"  Wonder  what  Mr.  Marvin  means  by  that  ? 
He  didn't  mean  to  ship  the  hay  or  the  lime 
yet." 

"  He  means  that  he  wants  the  Lady  Gay  to 
lie  here  till  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,"  answered 
the  other. 

"Wonder  why?" 

"Well,  now  let  me  advise  you,  in  a  fatherly 
sort  of  way,  to  stop  wondering  about  Mr.  Mar 
vin's  motives,  if  you  don't  want  to  go  around 
hunting  for  a  job  about  to-morrow.  It's  enough 
for  us  to  know  what  he  wants  done,  and  do  it. 
If  you're  not  busy,  go  down  to  the  wharf  and 
tell  the  captain  —  no,  he's  a-bed  —  tell  the  mud 
clerk  to  tell  him  in  the  morning  that  we're 
247 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

going  to  give  him  all  the  freight  he  can 
carry." 

The  clerk  was  right  both  in  his  conclusion 
that,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  Marvin  wanted  the 
steamboat  to  remain  at  Cairo  until  the  next 
evening,  and  in  his  advice  to  the  younger 
man  not  to  inquire  impertinently  into  Marvin's 
reasons  for  anything  he  might  do. 

There  were  no  railroads  at  that  time  connect 
ing  Cairo  with  New  Orleans.  It  was  only  by 
not  very  frequent  steamboats  —  for  the  river 
traffic  had  not  yet  been  fully  opened  —  that  one 
could  make  the  journey,  and  Hugh  Marvin  was 
under  a  peremptory  business  necessity  of  going 
to  New  Orleans  on  the  Lady  Gay.  But  he 
felt  himself  under  an  equally  pressing  necessity 
to  have  his  interview  with  Gabrielle  Latour 
before  leaving.  For  that  reason  he  wanted 
the  boat  to  remain  until  late  afternoon,  and 
to  secure  that,  he  had  decided  to  ship  a  lot  of 
freight  which  he  had  not  intended  to  send 
forward  at  that  time. 

Having  arranged  to  have  it  so,  he  returned 
to  his  rooms,  where  he  lay  awake  for  the  re- 
248 


A    RATHER   BAD    NIGHT 

mainder  of  the  night  trying  to  satisfy  himself 
as  to  the  correctness  or  incorrectness  of  his 
explanation  of  Gabrielle's  unusual  conduct. 

He  did  not  succeed  in  that,  but  he  did  suc 
ceed  in  making  himself  more  distressingly 
nervous  and  anxious  than  he  had  ever  been 
before  in  all  his  life. 


249 


XXV 

SOME   RESULTS   OF   "SUGGESTION" 

THIS    time    the    coming    of    morning 
brought  with  it  no  change  in  Hugh 
Marvin's  purpose,  though  the  weather 
was  such  that  it  might  well  have  dampened  any 
ardor.     There  was  a  cold,  drizzling   rain,  with 
a  biting   air   from  the  ice-full   rivers.     Marvin 
had   intended   to  invite  Gabrielle  to  ride  with 
him    that    morning,    but    his    first    glance    out 
of  the  window  showed  that  to  be  out  of  the 
question. 

He  went  to  the  hotel  for  breakfast  instead, 
and  afterward  busied  himself  with  affairs  in 
his  office,  on  his  wharf-boat,  and  in  his  ware 
houses,  and  with  preparations  for  his  journey 
to  New  Orleans. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  wearing 
high  boots  and  a  rubber  rain-coat,  he  mounted 
his  horse  and  rode  to  his  sister's  house,  plan- 
250 


SOME   RESULTS   OF  "SUGGESTION" 

ning,  as  he  went,  what  he  would  say  to 
Gabrielle,  and  how  he  would  say  it. 

"The  weather  is  fortunate  in  one  way,"  he 
thought.  "  I  shall  not  find  any  of  Lida's 
multitudinous  callers  there  to-day  to  bar  my 
way  to  a  private  talk  with  Gabrielle.  As  for 
Lida,  a  look  will  warn  her  to  have  business 
in  the  nursery." 

Alas  for  human  hopes  !  When  Hugh  Marvin 
walked  into  the  Hallam  house  at  a  quarter 
past  two  o'clock,  it  was  only  to  learn  that  his 
sister,  with  Gabrielle  and  the  little  people,  had 
taken  the  one  o'clock  train  for  Chicago,  where 
they  expected  to  spend  two  or  three  days  in 
shopping. 

Hugh  Marvin  felt  as  if  he  had  received  an 
unprovoked  blow  in  the  face.  For  a  moment 
he  was  stunned.  Then  for  half  a  minute  more 
he  was  angry. 

"  Why  didn't  Lida  tell  me  of  this  last  night 
when  I  was  here  for  supper?"  he  asked  him 
self.  "  Or  why  didn't  Gabrielle  mention  it 
when  we  were  talking,  and  before  she  ran 
away  from  me  so  strangely  and  so  suddenly  ? " 
251 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

He  stood  there  in  the  hallway  as  if  dazed 
for  more  than  a  minute.  Then  the  parlor 
maid,  as  if  reading  his  mental  questions  in  his 
features,  answered  them  by  saying :  — 

"  It  was  very  sudden,  sir.  They  didn't  think 
of  going  till  ten  o'clock  this  morning,  when 
Captain  Hallam —  he's  in  Chicago  you  know 
—  telegraphed  them  to  come." 

"  Oh,  thank  you  !  "  answered  Hugh.  Then 
quitting  the  house,  he  mounted  and  rode  slowly 
away. 

Instead  of  going  to  his  office,  as  ordinarily 
he  would  have  done  at  this  hour,  he  went  to 
his  rooms,  touched  a  match  to  the  kindling 
in  the  grate,  changed  his  damp  clothing  for 
dry,  and  then  sat  down  to  write  a  letter  which 
he  had  decided  to  leave  for  Gabrielle.  He  had 
thought  of  a  new  way  to  serve  the  woman 
he  loved. 

"I  leave  for  New  Orleans  this  evening," 
he  wrote,  "  on  the  steamer  Lady  Gay.  I  in 
tended  to  tell  you  about  it  at  supper  last  night, 
but  to  my  regret,  you  did  not  appear  at  that 
meal.  I  wanted  to  tell  you  of  some  plans  I 
252 


SOME    RESULTS   OF  "SUGGESTION" 

have  which  may  possibly  enable  me  to  serve 
you  while  I  am  down  the  river  —  and  there 
were  some  other  things  I  wanted  to  tell  you." 

Here  he  paused  in  his  writing  to  say  to 
himself,  "  I  wonder  if  Lida  would  regard  that 
as  a  satisfactory  example  of  what  she  calls 
'suggestion.'  Perhaps  my  next  sentence  will 
add  to  its  effectiveness  in  that  way." 

Then  he  resumed  his  writing. 

"As  I  missed  my  chance  last  night,  I  rode  up 
to  the  house  to-day,  to  say  good-by,  to  tell  you 
of  my  plans  for  New  Orleans,  and  to  say  the 
other  .things  that  are  in  my  mind.  As  you  had 
gone  away,  the  good-by  must  remain  unsaid, 
and  I  am  going,  in  this  letter,  to  tell  you  of  my 
New  Orleans  plans,  asking  you  to  help  me  carry 
them  out.  As  for  the  other  things,  they  must 
wait  till  I  get  back,  and  I  am  sorry  for  that. 

"Now  these  are  my  plans.  My  own  business 
will  keep  me  in  New  Orleans  for  a  fortnight  at 
least  —  perhaps  for  a  longer  time.  I  cannot 
hurry  it,  and  as  its  progress  from  day  to  day 
must  depend  largely  upon  the  activities  of  other 
men,  I  shall  have  abundant  time  on  my  hands. 
253 


"Now  matters  in  Louisiana  are  rapidly  re 
adjusting  themselves  to  new  and  more  orderly 
conditions,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  high 
time  that  somebody  should  look  up  your  inter 
ests  there,  both  in  New  Orleans  and  up  on  the 
bayou.  It  may  save  further  waste  and  damage 
to  your  inheritance  if  this  is  done  now,  before 
the  final  collapse  of  the  Confederacy,  which 
cannot  be  far  off. 

"  If  you  will  let  me  act  for  you  in  the  matter, 
I  shall  be  more  than  delighted,  but  in  order  that 
I  may  do  so  successfully  I  must  have  a  little 
help  from  you.  As  soon  as  you  return  to  Cairo, 
I  want  you,  please,  to  send  me  a  letter,  to  .the 
address  that  I'll  give  you  at  the  bottom  of  this 
sheet.  In  it  I  want  you  to  tell  me  — 

"  i.  Where  your  father's  house  in  New 
Orleans  is. 

"  2.  What  the  name  of  the  bayou  plantation 
is,  and  as  nearly  as  possible  where  it  is  located. 
You  see  I  wasn't  studying  geography  when  I 
met  you  there. 

"  3.  Do  you  know  of  any  other  property  that 
your  father  owned  in  New  Orleans  or  elsewhere 

254 


SOME   RESULTS   OF   "SUGGESTION" 

in  Louisiana  ?  If  so,  please  tell  me  all  that  you 
can  about  it,  be  it  much  or  little. 

"4.  Tell  me,  if  you  can,  or  as  nearly  as  you 
can,  where  your  father's  place  of  business  was, 
and  the  style  of  his  firm  if  he  had  partners. 

"  5.  Tell  me  the  names  of  any  lawyers  he 
employed,  and  any  friends  of  his,  if  you  can 
recall  them. 

"  Finally,  give  me  any  other  information  you 
can  that  you  think  may  aid  me  in  my  search. 

"  Send  the  letter  as  soon  as  you  can.  Then 
please  send  for  my  lawyers,  Brown  and  Gil- 
christ,  and  ask  one  of  them  to  come  to  you 
and  draw  up  the  necessary  papers,  authorizing 
me  to  act  for  you.  I  will  see  them  before  I 
leave,  and  they  will  know  what  is  to  be  done. 
When  the  papers  are  signed  and  executed,  the 
lawyers  will  forward  them  to  me. 

"  And  now  good-by  !  When  I  get  back  we'll 
resume  our  rides  together,  I  hope,  and  while  I 
am  gone,  I  beg  that  you  will  not  let  Hotfoot 
grow  stiff  for  lack  of  exercise.  I  shall  direct 
Moses  to  take  her  to  you  every  morning  when 
it  doesn't  pour  down  rain,  and  to  take  your 

255 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

orders  to  bring  the  mare  to  you  at  any  other 
time  of  day  that  you  may  wish. 

"  Good-by  again !  and  God  bless  and  keep 
you." 

On  her  return  from  Chicago,  two  or  three 
days  later,  Gabrielle  received  this  letter  and 
read  it  with  feelings  that  perhaps  she  did  not 
herself  quite  understand.  It  was  significant, 
however,  that  she  did  not  pass  it  over  to  Lida 
Hallam  to  read.  On  all  previous  occasions, 
when  notes  had  come  to  her  from  Hugh  Mar 
vin,  she  had  read  them  and  immediately  given 
them  to  Mrs.  Hallam  to  read,  that  being  the 
easiest  and  most  natural  way  of  informing  her 
friend  concerning  their  contents.  This  time 
she  folded  the  letter  instead,  and  thrust  it 
into  her  corsage.  She  sat  in  silence  and 
dreamily  looked  into  vacancy  for  a  while,  be 
fore  saying  anything. 

The    fact    did    not    escape    Mrs.    Hallam's 

keenly   interested    observation,    but    that   wise 

woman  said  nothing.     She  did  not  even  rouse 

the  girl  by  looking  at  her  as  if  in  mute  ques- 

256 


SOME    RESULTS    OF   "SUGGESTION" 

tion.  She  was  putting  her  own  interpretation 
upon  the  facts,  and  it  was  a  wrong  interpre 
tation. 

"  I  wonder  if  Hugh  has  been  stupid  enough 
to  pay  his  court  by  letter,"  she  thought.  "  I 
sincerely  hope  not.  That  is  about  the  most 
cowardly  thing  a  man  can  do,  and  it  deserves 
a  rejection  in  every  case.  It  will  provoke  one 
in  this  case  if  he  has  done  that.  Gabrielle 
Latour  is  not  the  girl  to  accept  such  an 
affront." 

As  she  meditated  thus,  her  companion  shook 
off  the  revery  into  which  she  had  fallen,  and  sud 
denly  turning,  drew  forth  the  letter,  saying  :  — 

"  Oh,  Lida,  I  have  a  very  important  letter 
from  your  brother,  Mr.  Marvin." 

Mrs.  Hallam  observed  that  the  girl  spoke  of 
him  as  "your  brother,  Mr.  Marvin,"  instead  of 
saying  only  "Mr.  Marvin"  according  to  her 
usual  practice.  It  was  a  small  thing,  but  it 
had  its  meaning  to  one  so  sagacious  and  so 
sympathetic. 

She  observed,  too,  that  as  the  girl  opened 
the  letter,  she  did  not  offer  to  hand  it  to  her, 
257 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE   SOUTH 

but  instead,  went  on  to  summarize  its  contents, 
using  the  sheet  as  a  sort  of  memorandum. 

"Well,  that  letter  isn't  a  declaration,  at  any 
rate,"  reflected  Mrs.  Hallam.  "  Hugh  would 
never  mix  up  all  that  business  with  love  affairs. 
And  yet  there  is  certainly  something  in  the 
letter  that  the  girl  doesn't  care  for  me  to  see. 
Perhaps  Hugh  has  been  trying  his  hand  at 
suggestion." 

All  that  she  said  was  :  — 

"  I  hope  you  can  give  him  enough  informa 
tion,  Gabrielle,  to  enable  him  to  succeed  in 
his  quest.  It  was  nice  of  him  to  think  of  it." 

"It  was  greatly  good  of  him,"  answered  the 
girl,  with  emotion,  "and  it  was  just  like  every 
thing  else  he  has  done  in  my  case.  Lida,  he 
is  the  best  man  in  the  world,  I  think,  and  cer 
tainly  he  has  been  a  good  friend  to  me." 

Mrs.  Hallam  looked  into  the  girl's  suffused 
eyes  as  this  was  said,  and  she  thought,  "  Well, 
he  has  succeeded  in  making  his  suggestions  rec 
ognizable,  at  any  rate."  Aloud  she  said  :  — 

"  How  much  information  can  you  give  him, 
Gabrielle?" 

258 


SOME    RESULTS    OF   "SUGGESTION" 

"Not  very  much,  I  fear." 
Then,  after  a  pause,  she  added:  — 
"And  yet,  I  suppose  it  may  be  enough  for 
so  able  a  man  as  he  is  to  work  upon.  I  can 
tell  him  where  our  house  in  New  Orleans 
stands,  and  I  think  I  can  tell  him  enough  to 
enable  him  to  locate  the  plantation.  As  for  the 
rest,  I  can't  tell  him  anything.  You  see  I  was 
a  very  young  girl,  Lida,  and  I  never  knew  any 
thing  about  my  father's  business,  except  that 
he  dealt  in  cotton  and  plantation  supplies.  It 
must  have  been  a  rather  large  business,  as  my 
father  was  regarded  as  a  very  rich  man.  We 
lived  in  a  very  large  house  set  in  the  middle  of 
a  garden  that  occupied  a  whole  city  block.  I 
know,  because  as  a  little  girl  I  used  to  play 
among  the  orange  and  magnolia  trees,  and  I 
used  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  walls  and  look 
out,  so  that  I  know  there  were  streets  on  all 
four  sides.  We  had  a  big  barn,  too,  with  sev 
eral  carriages  and  a  dozen  or  more  horses  in 
it.  So  I  am  sure  my  father  must  have  had  a 
large  business,  or  he  couldn't  have  lived  in 
that  way,  could  he  ?  " 

259 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

"  Certainly  not.  And  it  is  fortunate  that  he 
was  so  prominent  a  business  man,  for  so  he 
must  have  been  well  known  in  New  Orleans, 
and  there  must  be  at  least  some  people  there 
who  remember  him.  Hugh  will  easily  hunt 
those  people  up  and  they  will  tell  him  all  they 
know." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,  because  I  shouldn't  like 
him  to  fail  in  anything  he  has  undertaken." 

There  was  seemingly  not  a  thought  in  the 
girl's  mind  as  to  what  Hugh  Marvin's  success 
or  failure  might  mean  to  herself.  Her  concern 
was  solely  for  him. 

"  Certainly  Hugh  hasn't  failed  in  his  effort 
to  make  his  suggestions  effective,"  thought 
Mrs.  Hallam,  with  an  inward  chuckle  of 
delight. 

"Now  I  think  I  will  go  and  answer  his  letter 
if  you  don't  mind,"  said  the  girl,  thrusting  the 
sheet  into  her  corsage  again. 

"  Yes,  that  will  be  best.  Hugh  will  be  impa 
tiently  awaiting  your  reply,  and  there  might  be 
a  steamboat  along  at  any  time  now.  So  you'd 
better  get  your  letter  ready  to-night,  and  in  the 
260 


SOME   RESULTS   OF   "SUGGESTION" 

morning  I'll  ask  Will  to  send  one  of  the  law 
yers  up  here  to  prepare  the  papers." 

Gabrielle  went  at  once  to  her  room,  but  she 
did  not  go  to  her  little  writing  desk.  She  sat 
before  the  grate  instead  and  read  Hugh  Mar 
vin's  letter  twice  over.  Perhaps  she  was  trying 
to  familiarize  herself  with  its  details  so  that  she 
might  not  overlook  anything  of  consequence  in 
answering  it.  And  yet,  when  she  presently 
took  it  up  for  still  another  reading,  she  gave 
no  attention  at  all  to  the  business  part  of  it,  but 
only  to  that  paragraph  in  which  its  author  had 
three  times  mentioned  those  unexplained  "other 
things "  about  which  he  was  so  impatient  to 
talk  with  her. 

After  a  while  she  let  the  letter  drop  into  her 
lap,  but  still  she  sat  there,  gazing  into  the  fire 
as  if  she  saw  a  multitude  of  pleasing  pictures 
there. 

It  was  not  until  the  little  gilt  clock  on  her 
mantelpiece  tinkled  out  twelve  that  she  roused 
herself  from  her  revery  and  at  last  set  to  work 
writing. 

It  was  not  a  very  long  letter  when  it  was 
261 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

done,  but  the  clock  was  on  the  stroke  of  two 
when  she  "finished  it,  and  the  stock  of  note- 
paper  in  the  box  before  her  was  running  low. 
That  was  because  she  had  burned  so  many 
sheets  on  which  what  she  had  written  did  not 
satisfy  her.  It  is  difficult  for  a  sensitive 
woman  to  write  to  her  own  satisfaction  when 
she  is  perturbed  in  mind  and  beset  by  the  fear 
that  her  words  may  be  too  cold,  and  by  the  still 
more  alarming  apprehension  that  they  may  be 
too  warm.  In  such  a  case  there  is  sure  to  be  a 
notable  waste  of  paper,  and  the  resultant  mis 
sive  is  apt  to  be  extremely  unsatisfactory  and 
perhaps  misleading  to  its  recipient. 


262 


XXVI 


A  YOUNG  MAN'S   MOODS 

UGH   MARVIN   received   Gabrielle's 

letter,  together  with  the  legal  papers, 
about  a  week  after  his  arrival  in  New 
Orleans.  As  there  was  no  regular  or  trust 
worthy  mail  service  along  the  river  at  that  time, 
the  parcel  was  brought  by  the  hand  of  a  steam 
boat  clerk  whose  first  care  upon  landing  was  to 
deliver  it. 

Marvin  was  conscious  of  a  distinct  thrill  of 
joyous  expectancy  as  he  opened  the  missive  in 
his  hotel  room.  But  as  he  read  it  a  feeling 
of  disappointment  came  over  him. 

Precisely  what  he  had  expected  to  find  in 
Gabrielle's  letter  it  would  have  puzzled  him  to 
say.  It  would  have  puzzled  him  still  more  to 
explain,  even  to  himself,  why  he  should  have 
expected  to  find  anything  there  that  he  did 
263 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

not  find.  The  letter  thanked  him  gratefully 
for  the  interest  he  was  taking  in  its  writer's 
behalf,  and  assured  him  that  she  would  always 
regard  him  as  the  best  and  most  generous 
friend  she  had  ever  known.  Then  Gabrielle 
went  on  to  give  him  as  much  as  she  could  of 
the  information  for  which  he  had  asked,  and 
finally  she  wound  up  with  a  reiteration  of  her 
heartfelt  gratitude. 

What  more  could  the  girl  have  written  under 
the  circumstances  ?  Surely  no  man  in  his 
senses  could  have  expected  more.  But  per 
haps  Hugh  Marvin,  just  at  that  time,  could 
not  have  been  said,  in  strict  verity,  to  be  a 
man  in  his  senses.  Perhaps  the  same  is  true 
of  every  man  deeply  in  love.  In  spite  of  all  his 
strength  of  body,  mind,  and  character,  Hugh 
was  an  exceedingly  sensitive  person  at  all 
times,  and  at  this  particular  time  he  was  even 
morbidly  so. 

There  seemed    to  him  to  be   somewhat  too 

much  of  gratitude  in  the  letter,  and  it  seemed 

to  him  too  cold  and  too  distant  in  character. 

The  letter,  he  said  to  himself,  did    not    sound 

264 


A   YOUNG    MAN'S    MOODS 

like  Gabrielle.  There  was  none  of  her  piquancy 
of  expression  in  it,  none  of  that  warm-blooded 
cordiality  with  which  she  had  been  accustomed 
to  address  him.  It  was  such  a  letter  as  she 
might  have  written  to  any  gentleman  who  was 
doing  her  a  service  and  had  asked  her  for 
certain  information  of  a  practical  business 
nature. 

As  he  thus  analyzed  the  matter  and  his  own 
feelings  concerning  it,  the  truth  dawned  upon 
his  mind  —  the  truth,  namely,  that  the  real 
cause  of  his  disappointment  lay  in  the  fact 
that  Gabrielle  had  not  made  even  the  most 
veiled  and  guarded  reference  to  what  he  had 
written  concerning  "other  things"  that  he 
wished  to  say  to  her.  She  had  not  even  ex 
pressed  curiosity  to  know  what  those  "other 
things  "  might  be. 

As  he  meditated  upon  this  matter  a  saner 
thought  came  to  him. 

"After    all,"   he  argued,    "perhaps    that    is 

a    favorable    indication.      If  she    had    thought 

those   'other  things'  to  be  business  or  merely 

social    affairs,    she   would    certainly    have    ex- 

265 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

pressed  some  desire  to  know  what  they  were, 
or  at  the  least,  some  curiosity  concerning  them. 
But  if  she  understood  or  if  she  even  remotely 
conjectured  my  meaning,  of  course  she  could 
not  refer  to  the  matter.  She  is  far  too  proud  a 
woman  to  invite  a  further  utterance  on  such 
an  occasion,  or  —  what  an  idiot  I  am  to  be 
sure.  I  was  trying  to  convey  a  '  suggestion  '  to 
her  mind,  and  apparently  I  succeeded  even 
better  than  I  had  hoped.  She  understands,  or 
at  the  least  she  suspects,  my  meaning,  and  as 
a  self-respecting  woman  she  avoids  all  refer 
ence  to  the  matter,  and  she  will  go  on  avoid 
ing  such  reference  until  I  speak  out  plainly. 
That  accounts,  too,  for  the  guarded  circum 
spection  of  her  letter  in  all  its  parts.  Lida 
was  right.  Gabrielle  is  not  a  woman  to  throw 
herself  at  any  man's  head.  Lida  was  right  also 
when  she  called  me  a  'stupid.'  " 

This  wiser  interpretation  comforted  the 
young  man  mightily,  but  it  also  increased  his 
anxiety  to  close  up  his  business  in  New  Orleans 
and  hurry  back  to  Cairo.  Now  that  he  believed 
that  Gabrielle  understood  his  attitude,  he  was 
266 


A   YOUNG   MAN'S    MOODS 

impatient  to  bring  his  fate  to  a  crisis.  But  he 
must  remain  in  New  Orleans  for  yet  another 
week  or  more,  and  meantime  he  busied  himself 
with  his  quest  for  Gabrielle's  property. 

He  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  New 
Orleans  house  that  had  been  her  home.  It  was 
occupied  as  headquarters  by  a  military  officer 
and  his  staff, — a  fortunate  fact.  For  while  the 
house  itself,  and  particularly  its  bare  floors  and 
its  wall  decorations,  showed  some  signs  of  hard 
usage,  the  officers  occupying  it  had  been  very 
scrupulous  to  prevent  any  avoidable  injury,  and 
especially  they  had  protected  the  superb  trees 
and  shrubbery  in  the  grounds. 

As  Hugh  Marvin  looked  about  him  there,  he 
saw  everywhere  evidences  of  wealth  and  of 
quietly  luxurious  living  of  that  finer  sort  which 
men  of  ample  means  and  unostentatious  tastes 
are  apt  to  practise.  Under  the  jealous  care  of 
the  appreciative  officer  who  occupied  the  place 
as  his  headquarters  all  spoliation  had  been  pre 
vented.  The  furniture  was  unharmed  except  in 
so  far  as  use  had  worn  some  of  the  upholstery 
threadbare.  Such  ornaments  as  had  been 
267 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

found  there  were  there  still.  Even  the  antique 
and  richly  wrought  silver  candlesticks  —  heir 
looms  probably — remained  upon  the  mantel 
pieces,  while  the  portraits  and  other  pictures 
hanging  upon  the  walls  showed  no  other 
damage  than  such  as  dust  must  work  when 
there  is  no  woman  present  to  prevent,  except 
that  some  of  them  had  holes  in  them  as  Ga- 
brielle  had  told  him. 

Marvin  was  strongly  impressed  by  the 
evidences  of  the  family  wealth.  Of  course  the 
war  must  have  reduced  the  Latour  fortune  very 
materially,  but  even  with  the  negroes  freed,  the 
plantation  upon  the  bayou  must  represent 
much,  and  on  the  return  of  peace,  now  so  cer 
tainly  at  hand,  this  New  Orleans  mansion  would 
of  itself  be  worth  a  comfortable  fortune,  stand 
ing  as  it  did  in  the  very  best  quarter  of  the  city. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Hugh  Marvin  was  al 
together  pleased  with  all  this.  He  rejoiced,  of 
course,  to  know  that  so  much  remained  of  Ga- 
brielle's  inheritance,  for  he  had  the  records  ex 
amined  and  in  that  way  learned  that  there  were 
no  mortgage  or  other  incumbrances  upon  the 
268 


A   YOUNG    MAN'S    MOODS 

property ;  but  the  uncomfortable  thought  came 
to  him  that  in  proposing  marriage  to  a  young 
woman  inheriting  so  much,  he  might  be  accused 
in  men's  minds  of  fortune-hunting,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  his  own  means  were  now  ample 
and  rapidly  increasing.  He  deeply  regretted 
that  he  had  been  by  circumstances  denied  the 
privilege  of  saying  those  "other  things,"  before 
learning  definitely  that  Gabrielle  was  possessed 
of  anything  at  all. 

The  thought  did  not  trouble  him  long.  He 
threw  it  off  with  the  reflection  that,  however 
she  might  regard  his  suit  on  other  grounds, 
Gabrielle  would  never  entertain  so  unworthy  a 
belief  as  that  concerning  him. 

"As  for  other  people,"  he  reflected,  "I  can 
echo  the  sentiment  expressed  in  that  old  motto 
which  I  observed  carved  in  the  wainscot  of 
Gabrielle's  house :  — 

" '  They  say ;   they  have  said  ;   they  will  be 
saying :  Let  them  say  on.' " 


269 


XXVII 

JOHN   LAND,   COWARD 

IT  was  about  the  time  when  Hugh  Marvin 
was   looking   over   the  Latour   homestead 
in  New  Orleans  that  John  Land  made  the 
revelation  referred  to  in  an  earlier  chapter  that 
very    seriously  disturbed   the   even   current  of 
Gabrielle's  life. 

In  the  course  of  a  casual  conversation,  when 
they  happened  to  meet  at  the  house  of  one  of 
Gabrielle's   friends,    Land,  with   seeming  inno 
cence   of   intent,    asked   her    how   long   Hugh 
Marvin  was  expected  to  remain  in  New  Orleans. 
She  answered  quickly  :  — 
"  I  really  don't  know,  Mr.  Land ;    I  am  not 
privy  to  Mr.   Marvin's  affairs." 

There  was  just  a  trace  of  resentment  in  her 
tone. 

270 


JOHN    LAND,    COWARD 

"  Oh,  no,  of  course  not.  I  really  didn't  mean 
that  you  were.  I  only  thought  Mrs.  Hallam 
might  have  told  you.  I've  a  little  business 
matter  on  hand  in  which  I  am  very  anxious  to 
interest  Marvin,  and  so  I  naturally — " 

"  Oh,  of  course,"  she  interrupted.  "  I  didn't 
mean  to  answer  you  curtly,  but  really  I  don't 
know  when  he  will  return.  I'm  only  afraid  he 
will  stay  longer  than  is  convenient  for  him  in 
order  to  attend  to  some  matters  of  my  own 
which  he  has  kindly  undertaken  to  look  after." 

"That  may  very  easily  happen,"  answered 
Land,  speaking  with  seeming  sincerity.  "  He 
is  a  very  generous  man.  Indeed,  I  am  counting 
upon  that  in  the  matter  of  which  I  spoke. 
You  see  he  and  I  had  a  trifling  misunderstand 
ing  the  last  time  we  talked  together,  but  I  am 
sure  a  man  of  his  generosity  of  mind  will  for 
get  and  forgive  when  I  take  all  the  blame  upon 
myself  and  ask  him  to  let  it  go  at  that." 

"  Of  course  I  know  nothing  about  that,"  the 
girl  answered  ;  "  I  can  only  say  that  he  is,  as 
you  say,  a  very  generous  man.     He   has  been 
especially  so  to  me  in  many  ways." 
271 


"  Yes ;  of  course  I  have  heard  the  story  of 
those  five  bales  of  cotton.  That  was  singu 
larly—" 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Land  ?  What 
bales  of  cotton  ?  "  asked  the  girl,  with  defiance 
in  her  voice  and  look. 

"  Oh,  I  mean  the  five  bales  he  bought  out  of 
the  cargo  of  his  steamboat  and  sold  for  your 
account.  Of  course  he  has  told  you  since  of 
the  little  ruse." 

Gabrielle  bit  her  lip  in  an  effort  to  repress  an 
outburst.  But  she  could  not  altogether  refrain 
from  angry  speech.  Paraphrasing  Byron's  line 
she  merely  said,  as  she  looked  straight  into  the 
man's  eyes  :  — 

"  I  feel  that  I  must  pardon  your  bad  heart  for 
your  worse  brains." 

With  that  she  turned  from  him  without  a  fur 
ther  word,  and  presently  she  took  leave  of  her 
hostess,  managing  to  do  so  without  revealing 
anything  of  her  agitation. 

Human  motives  are  apt  to  be  mixed,  and 
John  Land's  were  certainly  so  in  this  case.  He 
was  fascinated  by  Gabrielle's  beauty  and  by  her 
272 


JOHN   LAND,    COWARD 

charm  of  voice  and  manner.  He  believed  him 
self  to  be  in  love  with  her,  and  he  was  so  —  so 
far  as  it  was  possible  for  such  a  man  as  he 
to  love  anybody  but  himself.  He  was  shrewd 
enough  to  understand  how  strong  an  impression 
Hugh  Marvin's  personality  had  made  upon  the 
girl,  and  he  had  discovered  something  of  her 
spirit.  He  was  sure  that  she  would  never 
knowingly  have  accepted  such  a  benefaction  at 
Marvin's  hands,  and  he  believed  that  upon 
learning  the  facts  she  would  bitterly  resent 
them.  In  that  event,  he  argued,  she  would  be 
mad  with  a  desire  to  repay  the  money,  and  help 
less  to  do  so  as  to  that  part  of  it  which  she  had 
already  used. 

This  situation  he  thought  might  give  him  his 
opportunity.  He  would  generously  come  for 
ward  with  an  offer  to  furnish  her  the  money 
with  which  to  make  repayment.  She  would 
refuse,  of  course,  to  place  herself  under  pecun 
iary  obligation  to  him,  and  then,  declaring  his 
passion,  he  would  ask  her  to  put  all  questions 
of  obligation  out  of  the  case  by  marrying  him. 
He  was  weakly  vain  enough  to  think  that  no 

273 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

well-balanced  young  woman  could  refuse  such 
an  offer  from  a  man  so  pleasing  in  appearance 
and  so  rich  as  he  was. 

This  was  his  first  purpose.  His  second  was 
to  revenge  himself  upon  Hugh  Marvin  at  all 
events. 

When  Gabrielle  so  suddenly  interrupted  him 
and  left  him  with  her  bitter  sarcasm  in  his  ears, 
he  had  sense  enough  to  see  clearly  that  in  his 
first  purpose  he  had  completely  failed.  But  the 
girl's  evident  indignation  convinced  him  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  the  other. 

"  I  have  made  a  lot  of  trouble  for  Hugh  Mar 
vin,  anyhow,"  he  thought.  "  He  won't  be  so 
handy  with  his  inkstands  next  time  he  sees  me." 

That  thought  suggested  another  and  a  far 
less  comfortable  one.  What  would  Hugh  Mar 
vin  do  when  he  should  learn  what  had  hap 
pened  ?  John  Land  did  not  know,  and  could 
not  guess,  but  as  he  lay  in  bed  that  night,  his 
imagination  ran  riot  in  uncomfortable  conjec 
tures.  He  knew  something  of  Hugh's  temper, 
and  he  greatly  feared  it.  He  was  convinced 
that  in  one  way  or  another  Hugh  Marvin  would 
274 


JOHN   LAND,    COWARD 

call  him  to  account  and  punish  him.  He 
believed  that  it  was  even  possible  that  Hugh 
would  kill  him  on  sight,  if  he  ever  learned  of 
this  thing.  "  Nobody  ever  can  tell  what  a  hot 
headed  Kentuckian  will  do  under  provocation," 
he  thought.  But  that  Hugh  would  wreak  some 
sort  of  vengeance  upon  him  he  could  not 
doubt,  and,  as  there  was  no  telegraphic  service 
up  and  down  the  river,  there  was  no  knowing 
at  what  hour  a  steamboat  from  New  Orleans, 
with  Hugh  Marvin  on  board,  might  make  her 
landing  at  Cairo. 

John  Land  soon  wrought  himself  into  a  con 
dition  of  mental  torture  even  worse  than  any 
that  he  had  ever  known  before.  It  was  not  only 
that  he  could  not  sleep,  he  could  no  longer 
remain  in  bed.  Cold  as  the  night  was,  he  was 
sweating  like  a  bedevilled  beast. 

Hastily  changing  his  nightgown  for  a  fresh 
one,  he  wrapped  himself  in  a  warm  dressing 
robe,  thrust  his  feet  into  fur-lined  slippers,  and 
rang  for  the  hotel  attendant  to  kindle  a  fire  in 
the  grate.  Meanwhile  he  paced  the  floor  in 
an  agony  of  fear. 

275 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

"  Has  any  steamboat  come  in  from  below  ? " 
he  rather  piteously  asked  the  fire-maker. 

"  I  dunno,  sir.  I'se  been  asleep  for  two 
hours  till  you  rung  de  bell." 

"  Oh,  it's  no  matter,"  answered  Land.  His 
question  had  been  prompted  by  the  sudden 
thought  that  Hugh  Marvin  might  land  at  any 
moment  and  come  at  once  to  the  hotel  upon 
vengeance  bent.  Reflection  showed  him  the 
utter  absurdity  of  that  apprehension.  He 
reminded  himself  that  even  if  Marvin  should 
land  that  night,  he  could  know  nothing  of  what 
had  happened  until  he  should  see  Gabrielle. 

While  the  man  was  busied  about  the  fire, 
John  Land  was  a  trifle  less  wretched  than 
before.  Somehow  human  presence  —  even  that 
of  a  negro  servitor — seemed  to  lighten  his 
burden  of  apprehension.  It  implied  or  sug 
gested  human  sympathy.  But  when  the  man 
had  gone,  the  old  agony  of  fear  came  back  in 
full  force. 

John  Land  was  a  coward  all  over  and  clear 
through.  It  is  never  the  instinct  of  the  cow 
ard  to  face  danger  and  fight  it.  His  impulse 


WHILE    THK    MAX    WAS    BUSIED    ABOUT    TIIK    FIKK.    JoiIX    LAM) 
WAS    A    TKIFLK    LESS    WRETCHED    THAN    BEFOKK. 


JOHN   LAND,   COWARD 

always  is  to  run  away  in  some  fashion  —  to  hide, 
to  skulk,  to  lie  out  of  the  difficulty.  Accord 
ingly  Land  presently  thought  of  a  way  out,  and 
he  determined  at  once  to  take  it.  His  thought 
was  that  if  he  could  in  any  way  prevent  Hugh 
Marvin  from  learning  of  his  agency  in  this 
matter,  he  must  escape  that  dangerous  man's 
wrath. 

He  went  to  his  desk  and  wrote  a  piteous 
appeal  to  Gabrielle.  He  protested  that  he 
had  not  intended  the  wrong  he  had  done. 
He  assured  her  on  what  he  called  his  "  word 
of  honor"  that  he  had  not  doubted  for  a 
moment  that  she  already  knew  of  Marvin's 
"generous  little  ruse."  Otherwise,  he  swore 
to  her,  he  would  very  certainly  never  have 
mentioned  the  matter  in  her  presence.  He 
besought  her  forgiveness.  He  begged  her  to 
be  generous  enough  not  to  let  Marvin  know 
what  had  occurred.  Finally  he  told  her  that 
he  must  remain  in  agonizing  apprehension 
until  she  should  graciously  send  him  a  line  to 
assure  him  of  her  forgiveness  and  her  silence. 

The  tall  clock  in  the  corner  of  his  room 
277 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

rang  out  four  on  its  deep,  resonant  bell,  as  he 
sealed  and  addressed  this  note.  Several  hours 
must  elapse  before  he  could  send  it  by  a  mes 
senger  to  the  Hallam  house,  and  they  must  be 
hours  of  torture  to  John  Land. 

With  every  hour  his  apprehensions  increased 
and  his  agony  of  mind  grew  harder  and  harder 
to  bear.  Finally,  at  half-past  seven  in  the 
morning,  he  sent  a  messenger  with  the  let 
ter,  thinking,  "  They  are  early  risers  at  the 
Hallams',  and  probably  they  have  finished 
breakfast  by  this  time." 

In  fact  the  missive  was  handed  to  Gabrielle 
while  she  sat  at  breakfast  with  the  Hallams. 
She  was  not  familiar  with  Land's  handwriting, 
but  she  saw  his  embossed  monogram  —  for  he 
was  particular  about  his  stationery  —  on  the 
lapel  of  the  envelope,  and  knew  from  whom 
the  letter  had  come.  Turning  to  her  hostess 
she  asked  :  — 

"  Lida,  may  the  messenger  who  brought  this 
come  into  the  dining  room  for  a  moment?" 

"  Certainly,  dear.  Bring  the  man  in, 
Matilda." 

278 


JOHN   LAND,   COWARD 

When  the  messenger  entered,  Gabrielle  held 
out  the  unopened  letter,  saying :  — 

"Take  that  back  to  John  Land." 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  him,  Miss  ? "  asked 
the  man,  in  perplexity. 

"  Anything  you  like.  I  have  no  messages 
for  him." 

The  negro  man  stopped  and  stood  in  help 
less  bewilderment.  He  had  delivered  many 
letters  in  his  time,  but  nothing  of  this  charac 
ter  had  ever  happened  to  him  before.  The 
situation  was  one  with  which  he  knew  not 

* 

how  to  deal.  Gabrielle  helped  him  out  by 
saying :  — 

"  I  told  you  to  go." 

The  man  turned  and  slowly  shuffled  out  of 
the  room,  like  one  in  a  daze.  As  he  passed 
out  through  the  door  he  ejaculated,  "  'Fore  de 
Lawd ! " 

Captain  Will  Hallam  had  suspended  his  break 
fast  during  this  little  colloquy.  When  the  mes 
senger  had  gone,  he  turned  to  Gabrielle  and  said 
in  even  tones  :  — 

"If  that  fellow  has  been  annoying  you  in 
279 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

any  way,  Gabrielle,  I'll  see  that  he  leaves  Cairo 
by  the  noon  train  never  to  return.  You've 
only  to  say  the  word." 

"He  has  not  annoyed  me  —  at  least,  not  in 
the  way  you  mean,  but  —  oh,  Captain  Hallam,  I 
cannot  explain." 

"You  needn't  explain,"  he  answered,  as 
Gabrielle,  in  manifest  agitation,  excused  her 
self  and  left  the  room. 

"On  the  whole,  Lida,"  continued  Captain 
Hallam,  quite  as  if  he  had  been  speaking  of 
some  contemplated  change  in  the  garden  or 
the  stable,  "  I  think  I'll  send  him  out  of  Cairo 
anyhow.  I've  an  idea  that  the  general  health 
of  the  city  will  be  better  without  him,  and  I'm 
at  the  head  of  the  Health  Board,  you  know." 

"Obviously  he  has  been  annoying  Gabrielle 
in  some  way.  Yes,  I  think  you'd  better  sup 
press  him  as  a  nuisance,"  answered  Mrs.  Hal 
lam,  who  had  the  fullest  possible  faith  in  her 
husband's  ability  to  do  anything  he  might  be 
minded  to  do. 

"After  all,"  she  added,  "it  is  partly  my 
fault  that  he  has  had  opportunity  to  annoy 
280 


JOHN    LAND,    COWARD 

Gabrielle.  I  should  have  warned  her  against 
him  when  he  called  on  her  here  and  I  ordered 
him  not  to  come  again.  I  didn't  want  to  dis 
tress  her  then,  but  I  was  wrong  in  that.  She 
is  terribly  distressed  now  over  something,  I 
don't  know  what." 

"  Suppose  you  find  out,"  answered  Captain 
Hallam,  whose  confidence  in  his  wife's  sagacity 
and  persuasiveness  was  as  great  as  hers  in  his 
mastery  of  men  and  situations. 


281 


XXVIII 


GABRIELLE'S   DETERMINATION 

ON  her  return  to  the  Hallam  house  after 
her  encounter  with  John  Land,  Ga- 
brielle  had  been  fortunate  enough  to 
meet  no  one  in  the  hallway  or  on  the  stairs. 
She  had  thus  been  able  to  go  to  her  own  room 
unobserved.  What  might  have  happened  if 
she  had  encountered  Mrs.  Hallam  at  that 
moment  she  shrank  from  imagining,  for  her 
agitation  and  her  distress  were  extreme.  But 
by  force  of  her  resolute  will  she  so  far  mastered 
herself  that  when  she  sat  clown  to  the  supper 
table,  no  person  less  sagaciously  observant  than 
Mrs.  Hallam  would  have  discovered  that  any 
thing  was  amiss.  Gabrielle  entered  freely  into 
the  table-talk  and  carried  on  her  part  of  it 
with  spirit,  especially  that  part  of  it  which 
brought  the  children  into  the  conversation. 
282 


GABRIELLE'S   DETERMINATION 

Indeed,  she  put  too  much  of  vivacity  into  her 
talk,  and  it  was  that  which  led  Mrs.  Hallam 
to  suspect  that  she  was  emotionally  disturbed 
in  some  way.  It  was  Gabrielle's  habit  always 
to  talk  vivaciously,  but  on  that  evening  she 
chattered,  very  much  as  she  had  done  with 
Hugh  when  they  two  first  met  on  the  banks 
of  the  bayou.  Mrs.  Hallam  promptly  discov 
ered  a  false  note  in  her  conversation,  and  saw 
that  she  was  assuming  a  greater  liveliness  than 
usual  as  a  veil  to  some  deeper  feeling  that  she 
desired  to  conceal.  But  Mrs.  Hallam  gave  no 
hint  of  her  discovery. 

"  She  will  tell  me  about  it  when  she  is  ready," 
reflected  that  wise  and  loving  woman. 

After  supper,  Gabrielle  went  to  the  piano 
and  played  dance  music  for  the  little  people, 
as  she  was  accustomed  to  do  of  evenings. 
When  they  had  danced  themselves  tired,  she 
sent  them  off  to  bed,  and,  excusing  herself, 
went  to  her  own  room. 

There  she  threw  aside  her  assumed  gayety 
and  sat  down  to  think.  She  felt  that  her  life 
was  at  a  crisis,  and  she  had  not  yet  wrought  out 
283 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

a  definite  purpose  from  the  whirl  of  impulses 
that  were  struggling  for  place  in  her  soul. 

Her  first  feeling  had  been  one  of  anger  and 
resentment.  She  had  been  tricked,  insulted, 
humiliated  by  the  man  in  whose  friendship  she 
had  so  loyally  confided.  A  little  further  reflec 
tion  served  to  soften  this  feeling  and  to  modify 
somewhat  her  view  of  the  facts  upon  which  it 
rested.  As  she  sat  there  in  her  room,  trying 
to  think  the  matter  out  and  to  decide  upon  a 
course  of  action,  she  could  not  help  seeing 
clearly  that,  whatever  error  of  judgment  Hugh 
Marvin  might  have  fallen  into  in  his  effort  to 
serve  her,  his  constant  purpose  had  been  to 
minister  to  her  welfare. 

"He  has  not  meant  to  humiliate  me,"  she 
argued.  "  He  has  only  sought  to  make  me 
happy,  and  he  has  done  so  during  all  these 
many  months  as  nobody  else  ever  did.  He  has 
been  unspeakably  considerate  and  strangely  un 
selfish.  Such  a  friendship  I  never  knew  before." 

Then  came  the  question  :  — 

"  Is  it  friendship  that  has  inspired  him  in  all 
this,  or  is  it  —  something  else?" 
284 


GABRIELLE'S    DETERMINATION 

As  if  to  satisfy  herself  on  this  point,  she 
took  Hugh's  recent  letter  from  its  receptacle, 
and  read  it  over  again  several  times.  There 
was  certainly  a  hint  in  it  of  that  "something 
else,"  but  there  was  at  least  a  possibility  of 
misinterpretation  on  that  head,  and  the  sensi 
tive  girl  felt  a  wave  of  fresh  humiliation  sweep 
over  her  as  she  realized  that  perhaps  she  had 
permitted  herself  to  read  more  into  the  letter 
than  its  writer  had  intended.  This  thought 
brought  back  all  the  old  shame  in  full  meas 
ure.  It  reminded  her  that  she  had  been  liv 
ing  upon  this  man's  bounty  —  leading  a  life 
of  dependence  upon  a  stranger  who  owed  her 
nothing,  and  whose  first  impulse,  she  was 
satisfied,  had  been  one  of  pity  for  her  forlorn 
condition. 

With  that  thought  her  anger  and  resentment 
revived.  She  resented  the  thought  that  any 
body  should  dare  pity  her.  She  felt  that  be 
tween  his  pity  and  the  gift  of  money  he  had 
made  to  her  he  had  forced  her  to  become, 
unwittingly,  an  object  of  charity  —  a  pauper, 
she  called  it  in  her  mind. 
285 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

Again  her  sense  of  justice  pleaded  for  Hugh 
Marvin  in  answer  to  these  accusations.  She 
could  not  escape  the  fact  that  his  motives  had 
been  altogether  kindly  and  very  generous.  The 
circumstances  would  have  worn  a  much  uglier 
aspect  if  Hugh  could  have  foreseen  the  possi 
bility  that  she  would  ever  come  to  know  what 
he  had  done  for  her.  In  that  case  the  accusa 
tion  would  have  lain  against  him  that  he  had 
unjustly  subjected  her  to  humiliation  and  shame. 
As  it  was  —  well,  she  could  not  confidently  judge 
his  conduct.  So  she  read  his  letter  again,  with 
out  clearing  up  the  matter. 

There  remained  the  much  more  practical 
question  of  what  she  should  now  do.  She 
could  return  the  greater  part  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  gift  of  cotton,  and  that  she  would  do, 
of  course.  But  she  had  no  possible  means  of 
repaying  that  part  of  the  money  which  she 
had  already  used.  If  she  could  have  done 
that,  her  course  would  have  been  clear.  In 
that  case  she  would  pay  the  debt  and  instantly 
go  away  in  search  of  work,  but  carrying  her 
trusty  creese  in  her  corsage. 
286 


GABRIELLE'S   DETERMINATION 

In  any  case  she  was  resolved  never  to  see 
Hugh  Marvin  again,  a  resolution  formed  not 
so  much  in  resentment  as  in  shame.  She  felt 
that  she  could  not  bear  to  stand  before  him  now 
and  look  into  his  eyes,  knowing  what  benefits 
she  had  accepted  at  his  hands. 

When  John  Land's  letter  came  to  her  at 
breakfast  the  next  morning,  a  new  and  sharper 
feeling  of  disgrace  seized  upon  her.  She  knew 
nothing  of  what  the  letter  contained,  but  the 
fact  that  that  man  had  presumed  to  send  her 
any  letter  at  all,  expecting  her  to  read  it,  seemed 
to  her  an  indication  of  her  loss  of  respectability 
as  a  woman.  This  man,  who  knew  that  she 
had  been  the  recipient  of  charity,  and  who  sup 
posed  that  she  had  known  and  consented  to  the 
situation,  evidently  assumed  that  her  self-respect 
had  been  completely  cast  aside.  Otherwise  he 
would  not  have  thought  of  writing  to  her  after 
what  had  passed  between  them  on  the  day  before. 

And  if  John  Land  knew  that  she  had  ac 
cepted  charity  at  Hugh  Marvin's  hands,  it  was 
certain,  she  thought,  that  everybody  else  in 
Cairo  knew  of  it.  Instantly  she  made  up  her 
287 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

mind  to  go  away  from  Cairo  and  hide  herself 
out  of  sight  of  its  people. 

When  she  left  the  breakfast  table  and  went 
to  her  room,  it  was  her  purpose  to  carry  this 
resolution  into  effect  at  once.  She  set  to  work 
packing  a  small  trunk,  meaning  to  leave  on  an 
afternoon  train  that  day  for  Chicago.  What 
she  would  do  when  she  got  there  she  did  not 
know,  but  there  were  many  things,  she  thought, 
that  might  be  done.  Perhaps  she  could  secure 
nursing  to  do,  though  that  was  doubtful,  as  she 
would  have  nobody  to  vouch  for  her  character. 
There  were  much  humbler  employments  for 
which  she  would  need  no  recommendation. 
She  would  find  work  of  some  sort.  If  not, 
she  had  the  creese. 

Having  packed  her  little  trunk,  she  sat  down 
to  figure  up  her  bank-book.  That  done  she 
drew  a  check  payable  to  Hugh  Marvin  for 
every  dollar  that  remained  to  her  credit.  She 
had  enough  in  her  purse  to  pay  her  fare  and 
provide  her  with  food  and  lodging  of  the  cheap 
est  kind  for  a  few  days,  and  that  was  all  she 
would  take. 

288 


GABRIELLE'S    DETERMINATION 

Then  she  sat  down  to  write  a  letter  to  Hugh 
Marvin.  But  after  several  attempts  she  gave 
that  up  and  wrote  only  a  line  or  two,  saying :  — 

"  Here  is  my  check  for  all  I  have  left  of  your 
money." 

This  she  enclosed  with  the  check  in  an  en 
velope  which  she  addressed  to  Marvin. 

She  had  now  only  to  say  good-by  to  Lida 
Hallam,  but  that,  she  felt,  was  the  most  diffi 
cult  task  of  all. 

As  she  was  nerving  herself  to  its  perform 
ance,  there  was  a  knock  at  her  door,  and  Mrs. 
Hallam  entered,  bearing  a  letter  for  the  girl. 

"  I  think  I  ought  not  to  read  it,"  said  Ga- 
brielle,  after  she  had  glanced  at  the  envelope. 
"It  is  from  Mr.  Marvin." 


289 


XXIX 


HUGH   MARVIN'S   DISCOVERY 

HAVING  learned  all  he  could  with 
respect  to  Gabrielle's  New  Orleans 
property,  Marvin  sought  out  a  lawyer 
whom  he  could  trust  and  laid  before  him  the 
question  of  what  had  best  be  done  by  way  of 
recovering  possession  of  it  for  her,  or  at  the 
least  establishing  her  legal  right  to  her  inheri 
tance.  The  lawyer  advised  that  no  steps  be 
taken  with  respect  to  the  matter  until  the 
war  should  be  completely  at  an  end.  Until 
that  time,  he  pointed  out,  it  could  not  be  known 
what  would  be  the  status  of  the  Southern  States 
or  of  their  people.  Something  like  orderly 
government  had  been  set  up  in  and  around 
New  Orleans,  and  measures  were  already  on 
foot  for  the  restoration  of  Louisiana  to  the 
Union.  But  that  had  not  yet  happened.  The 
290 


HUGH    MARVIN'S    DISCOVERY 

State  was  still  under  military  control,  and  the 
authorities  that  were  ruling  it  could  not  know 
upon  what  terms  the  restoration  would  be 
made.  There  might  be  a  wholesale  proscrip 
tion  of  those  who  had  served  in  the  Confederate 
army,  as  Gabrielle's  father  and  brothers  had 
done.  There  might  be  a  general  confiscation 
of  the  property  of  such  persons.  A  score  of 
things  might  happen.  Nobody  could  tell,  and, 
of  course,  with  matters  in  so  unsettled  and 
uncertain  a  condition,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  recover  the  property  by  establishing  Gabri 
elle's  title  to  it.  Any  effort  to  do  so  might 
do  harm.  It  could  certainly  do  no  good. 

"  The  only  prudent  thing  to  do  now," 
advised  the  lawyer,  "is  to  get  all  the  informa 
tion  you  can,  and  then  wait." 

Acting  upon  this  advice,  Hugh  set  to  work, 
with  the  aid  of  his  lawyer,  to  find  out  what 
he  could  respecting  the  plantation  on  the 
bayou.  He  discovered  its  locality,  and  at  con 
siderable  risk  to  himself  he  visited  the  place. 
He  found  it  to  be  very  large  and  very  rich  in 
its  soil,  with  important  timber  growths  on 
291 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

parts  of  it.  The  buildings  had  all  been 
burned,  as  we  know,  but  the  land,  favorably 
situated  as  it  was,  was  very  valuable,  or  would 
be  so  when  peace  and  civil  government  should 
come  again. 

Hugh  found,  however,  that  the  plantation 
was  in  large  part  occupied  by  negro  refugees 
who  had  been  settled  there  as  squatters  by 
the  military  authorities. 

"There  again,"  his  lawyer  said  to  him  upon 
hearing  the  facts,  "  there  again  is  a  reason,  and 
a  very  important  one,  for  waiting  before  mov 
ing  in  the  matter  of  recovery.  Any  attempt 
of  that  sort  made  now  would  threaten  disturb 
ance  to  the  colonizing  arrangements  of  the 
military  authorities,  and  they  would  stoutly 
resist.  They  would  very  probably  endeavor 
even  to  secure  some  act  confiscating  the  prop 
erty,  and  in  the  present  temper  of  Congress 
such  an  effort  might  be  easily  successful." 

One    morning    Hugh    received  a  note    from 

a    business    house    unknown    to    him.     It   was 

guardedly  written,  and  it  asked  him  to  call  upon 

the  head  of  the  firm  whose  signature  it  bore. 

292 


HUGH    MARVIN'S    DISCOVERY 

It  gave  no  reason  for  the  request  and  offered 
no  explanation  to  show  him  why  he  should 
give  it  any  attention.  He  supposed  that  the 
firm  wished  to  establish  business  relations  of 
some  sort  with  his  Cairo  house,  as  he  was  now 
a  large  shipper  of  grain  and  other  products  to 
the  Southern  city.  But  if  such  were  the  pur 
pose,  he  could  not  understand  why  the  note 
was  so  guardedly  written,  or  why  it  gave  no 
hint  of  the  purpose  of  the  requested  visit. 

As  he  had  nothing  to  conceal,  however,  he 
decided  to  call  upon  the  firm.  When  he  did 
so,  the  senior  member  of  the  house — a  man 
younger  than  himself  —  invited  him  into  a  pri 
vate  office  and  for  a  time  talked  of  the  weather, 
the  city,  the  rapidly  developing  river  commerce, 
and  other  matters  of  a  general  and  inconse 
quent  nature.  After  a  little  he  asked  Hugh 
about  his  own  Cairo  business  and  listened  with 
close  attention  to  all  that  the  young  man  said 
in  reply.  He  asked  particularly  what  com 
mission  houses  in  New  Orleans  were  Marvin's 
correspondents.  He  made  a  note  of  the  names, 
and  then  turned  to  Hugh,  saying  :  — 

293 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  I  must  explain,  Mr.  Marvin,  that  the 
matter  about  which  I  asked  you  to  call  is  one 
of  considerable  delicacy  —  involving  perhaps 
the  interests  of  others.  I  must  go  cautiously, 
therefore,  and  be  sure  of  my  ground.  Will  you 
pardon  me  if  I  say  nothing  about  this  affair  at 
present  ?  And  will  you  permit  me  to  call  upon 
you  at  your  hotel  this  afternoon  ?  I  think 
I  shall  then  be  in  position  to  talk  with  less 
reserve  than  I  feel  bound  to  maintain  at 
present." 

Frank,  open-minded,  and  courageous  as  he 
was,  Hugh  Marvin  could  not  understand  the 
man's  reticence,  and  for  the  moment  he  was 
disposed  to  resent  it.  He  reflected,  however, 
that  some  men  are  constitutionally  cautious ; 
that  some  men  practise  reserve  for  the  sake 
of  exalting  the  importance  of  the  affairs  they 
have  in  hand ;  and  finally,  that  this  man  had 
intimated  that  he  was  acting  for  others  in  a 
matter  of  extreme  delicacy.  He  therefore 
put  aside  his  resentment  so  far  as  to  name 
an  hour  for  the  proposed  call.  He  would  not 
himself  have  visited  the  man  again  without  a 
294 


HUGH    MARVIN'S   DISCOVERY 

fuller  understanding  of  the  occasion  for  doing 
so,  but  he  consented  to  received  the  merchant 
at  his  hotel  at  the  hour  appointed. 

When  his  visitor  arrived,  Hugh  observed  a 
considerable  relaxation  in  his  manner. 

"  I  must  thank  you  for  giving  me  this  in 
terview,  Mr.  Marvin,"  he  said  after  the  greet 
ings  of  courtesy  were  over.  "And  I  must 
apologize  for  what  may  have  seemed  to  you 
a  strange  reticence  this  morning.  The  matter 
about  which  I  have  now  come  to  talk  with  you 
involves  the  interests  of  others  in  a  vital  way, 
and  you  were  a  stranger  to  me.  I  asked  you 
for  the  names  of  your  correspondents  in  New 
Orleans,  and  I  asked  you  to  postpone  this 
interview  in  order  that  I  might  satisfy  myself 
concerning  you  by  making  inquiries  of  them." 

"  Well,  are  you  satisfied  ?"  asked  Hugh,  with 
just  a  trace  of  impatience  in  his  tone. 

"  Oh,  yes,  entirely.  Now  let  me  come  to 
the  point.  You  have  been  making  somewhat 
careful  inquiries,  I  learn,  concerning  the  prop 
erty  of  the  late  Etienne  Latour.  May  I  ask 
you  in  whose  interest  you  have  done  this  ? " 
295 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Instantly  Hugh  Marvin's  caution  was  aroused 
in  its  turn. 

"Pardon  me,"  he  answered,  "if  I,  too,  must 
practise  a  little  caution.  I  may  say  to  you  that 
my  concern  with  this  matter  also  involves  the 
vital  interests  of  others.  I  cannot,  with  pro 
priety,  answer  your  question  until  I  know 
why  and  in  whose  interest  it  is  asked." 

"That  I  am  now  prepared  to  tell  you," 
answered  the  visitor.  "  I  am  acting  for 
Etienne  Latour's  only  surviving  son,  Pierre 
Latour." 

Hugh  rose  to  his  feet  in  his  astonishment. 
He  advanced,  and  placing  his  face  close  to 
that  of  his  visitor,  looked  him  in  the  eyes  with 
a  searching,  questioning  scrutiny.  Presently 
he  said :  — 

"  But  Pierre  Latour  is  dead.  He  fell  at 
Gettysburg." 

"  He  fell  at  Gettysburg,"  answered  the  other, 
"  but  he  is  not  dead.  He  is  alive,  and  is  now 
in  hiding  in  New  Orleans." 

"  Tell  me  the  whole  story,"  said  Hugh,  sink 
ing  again  into  his  chair. 
296 


HUGH    MARVIN'S   DISCOVERY 

"I  will,"  answered  the  other;  "for  I  have 
satisfied  myself  as  to  your  honor  and  your  dis 
cretion,  and  I  may  trust  you  even  with  the 
secrets  of  another.  Pierre  Latour  fell  at  Gettys 
burg,  wounded  apparently  beyond  hope.  Four 
canister  balls  struck  him.  Two  of  them  passed 
through  his  body  ;  one  mangled  his  left  foot  and 
another  crushed  his  left  knee.  He  was  picked 
up  by  the  Federals,  whose  surgeons  amputated 
his  leg  and  treated  his  other  wounds.  They 
had  little  hope  of  saving  his  life,  but  they  did 
their  best,  and  the  boy's  extraordinary  vitality 
mightily  helped  them.  He  lay  in  hospital  until 
a  month  or  two  ago,  when  his  slowly  healing 
lungs  —  through  which  one  of  the  missiles  had 
passed  —  began  to  manifest  symptoms  of  an 
alarming  character.  Otherwise  he  was  growing 
better,  and  the  surgeons  determined  to  send 
him  out  of  the  Northern  winter  to  the  milder 
climate  of  his  native  city.  He  was  brought 
South  on  a  hospital  ship  and  placed  in  the 
prison  hospital  which  is  maintained  here  for 
wounded  and  convalescent  prisoners  of  war. 

"The  change  proved  altogether  good  for  him, 
297 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

and  he  rapidly  gained  strength.  But  his  mind 
was  so  ill  at  ease  as  to  retard  recovery.  He 
had  left  his  only  sister  in  New  Orleans,  and  he 
could  not  learn  what  fate  had  overtaken  her.  I 
was  permitted  to  visit  him  —  for  he  and  I  had 
been  schoolmates  and  comrades  before  the  war, 
and  I  had  remained  a  Union  man,  so  that  the 
authorities  here  made  no  objection  when  he 
asked  to  see  me.  In  his  behalf  I  made  inquiries 
concerning  his  sister.  I  could  learn  only  that 
she,  with  an  aunt  who  had  charge  of  her,  was 
living  on  the  Latour  plantation  when  a  raiding 
party  sacked  and  burned  the  place.  Beyond 
that  I  could  discover  no  trace  of  the  young 
woman,  and  I  so  reported. 

"  But  Pierre  was  not  satisfied.  He  thought 
that  if  he  could  in  any  way  get  out  of  the  prison 
hospital  and  direct  the  search  himself,  he  might 
succeed  where  I  had  failed.  He  had  but  one  leg, 
of  course,  and  he  was  still  suffering  consider 
ably  from  his  wounds,  but  once  out  of  prison  he 
would  be  free,  he  thought,  to  send  out  letters 
of  inquiry,  and  consult  with  such  friends  as 
he  might  discover  to  be  in  New  Orleans.  Of 
298 


HUGH   MARVIN'S   DISCOVERY 

course  he  could  not  do  that  from  the  hospital 
prison. 

"Accordingly  I  made  every  effort  to  secure 
his  parole,  and  I  should  have  succeeded  but 
for  one  thing.  There  is  a  secret  organization 
among  New  Orleans  women,  and  has  been  ever 
since  the  city  was  captured.  Its  purpose  is  to 
aid  in  the  escape  of  Confederate  prisoners  and 
their  return  to  the  army.  The  organization  has 
an  almost  perfect  system  of  communication  by 
signals,  and  as  it  has  close  relations  with  several 
steamboat  captains  who  are  Southern  in  their 
sympathies,  it  has  been  easy  for  them,  whenever 
a  prisoner  has  escaped,  to  send  him  up  the  river, 
land  him  somewhere  in  the  woods,  and  enable 
him  to  make  his  way  into  the  Confederate  lines. 

"Of  course  a  man  so  crippled  as  Pierre  Latour 
is  could  not  do  that,  but  the  military  authorities 
have  feared  to  release  even  crippled  prisoners 
on  parole  within  the  city,  lest  they  aid  in  this 
work.  Military  men  are  apt  to  take  short  cuts, 
you  know,  and  in  this  matter  they  have  spared 
themselves  the  trouble  of  discriminating  by  sim 
ply  refusing  to  parole  any  prisoner  whatever. 
299 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

"But  in  some  way,  I  don't  know  how,  Pierre 
Latour  managed  to  communicate  with  this 
organization  of  women,  and  as  there  is  no  great 
watchfulness  exercised  over  the  hospital  prison, 
that  has  only  badly  wounded  men  for  its  in 
mates,  they  succeeded  in  effecting  Pierre's 
escape  and  smuggling  him  into  my  house. 

"The  excitement  of  the  escape,  and  the 
undue  exertion  attending  it,  brought  on  an 
excess  of  fever,  but  he  recovered  from  that, 
and  he  has  been  engaged  ever  since  in  prose 
cuting  inquiries  for  his  sister  by  such  means  as 
are  open  to  one  in  hiding.  That  is  the  whole 
story.  When  I  learned  of  your  activity  and 
told  him  of  it,  he  begged  me  to  find  out  who 
you  were,  and  what  were  your  motives.  He 
thought,  as  I  did,  that  you  were  making  your 
inquiries  concerning  the  Latour  property  with 
a  view  to  its  confiscation  or  something  of  that 
sort.  But  there  was  a  chance  —  a  remote  one, 
perhaps  —  that  you  knew  his  sister's  where 
abouts,  and  were  acting  in  her  behalf." 

There  was   a   distinct    note  of   interrogation 
in  the  man's  utterance  of  the  last  sentence. 
300 


HUGH    MARVIN'S    DISCOVERY 

"That  conjecture,"  Hugh  answered,  "was 
entirely  correct." 

The  man  sprang  from  his  chair,  grasped  Mar 
vin's  hand  with  warmth,  and  eagerly  said  :  — 

"  Tell  me,  where  is  she  ?  And  how  is  she  ? 
And  what  are  her  circumstances  ?  This  is 
good  news,  and  it  will  make  Pierre  almost  well 
again.  Tell  me,  please  !  " 

"  You  may  tell  the  young  man  that  Miss 
Gabrielle  Latour  is  living  with  my  sister  in 
Cairo,  Illinois ;  that  she  is  perfectly  well,  is 
abundantly  provided  with  money  of  her  own, 
and  is  surrounded  by  friends  who  love  her  very 
dearly.  But  why  may  I  not  go  to  the  young 
man  myself  ?  Why  may  I  not  have  the  pleas 
ure  of  telling  him  the  good  news  ? " 

"That  would  never  do,"  answered  the  other. 
"  It  might  arouse  suspicion  and  lead  to  Pierre's 
arrest.  But  I  will  be  your  messenger,  and,  if 
I  may,  I  will  come  back  here  this  evening  to 
bring  you  his  message  in  reply." 

Hugh  gladly  assented,  and  after  an  impres 
sive  parting  the  visitor  took  his  leave,  promis 
ing  to  come  again  in  the  evening. 
301 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE   SOUTH 

Hugh  Marvin's  eagerness  to  communicate 
all  his  good  news  to  Gabrielle  was  naturally 
very  great,  but  it  was  baffled  by  the  circum 
stances  of  the  time.  There  was  none  but  a 
government  military  line  of  telegraph  from 
New  Orleans  northward,  and  that  was  reserved 
exclusively  for  official  use.  Hugh  made  an 
effort  to  secure  the  transmission  of  a  de 
spatch  by  this  line,  but  the  prohibition  was 
positive  and  unyielding.  Fortunately  there  was 
a  steamboat  at  the  levee,  which  would  leave  the 
next  morning  for  Cairo,  and  Hugh  was  well 
acquainted  with  her  officers,  as  he  was  indeed 
with  all  the  river  men  whose  boats  were  ac 
customed  to  carry  his  cargoes.  He  sat  down, 
therefore,  as  soon  as  his  visitor  left  him,  and 
wrote  a  letter  for  the  clerk  of  the  steamboat 
to  deliver  in  Cairo.  It  was  this  letter  that 
Mrs.  Hallam  delivered  into  Gabrielle's  hands 
on  the  morning  after  her  encounter  with  John 
Land.  It  was  this  letter  of  good  news  that 
Gabrielle  hesitated  to  read. 


302 


XXX 


FRIGHT  AND   FLIGHT 

FEAR  "walketh  in  darkness,"  and  cow 
ardice  is  at  its  worst  in  the  watches  of 
the  night. 

When  John  Land  had  sent  off  his  missive 
to  Gabrielle,  he  went  down  to  his  breakfast  a 
good  deal  comforted.  Human  presence  itself 
is  somehow  a  source  of  reassurance  to  the 
timid  soul,  and  so  when  he  entered  the  hotel 
dining  room,  nodding  to  one  acquaintance  after 
another  as  he  advanced  to  his  accustomed  seat 
near  the  farther  end  of  the  great  apartment, 
Land  found  his  fears  rapidly  leaving  him  and 
his  self-confidence  returning.  There  in  the 
dining  room,  among  so  many  people  who  were 
not  disposed  to  do  him  harm,  he  felt  that  his 
imaginings  of  the  night  before  had  been,  if 
not  altogether  without  occasion,  at  least  ex- 

3°3 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

aggerated.  He  felt,  rather  than  thought,  that 
no  harm  would  come  to  him. 

Two  other  things  contributed  to  his  reassur 
ance.  Contrary  to  his  custom,  he  had  taken 
a  before-breakfast  dram,  by  way  of  steadying 
his  nerves,  and  he  had  taken  an  active  measure 
of  self-defence  by  writing  to  Gabrielle.  Under 
all  these  reassuring  influences  his  optimistic 
self-confidence  returned,  and  he  was  sure  that 
Gabrielle  would  send  him  a  message  promising 
to  keep  her  own  counsel  with  regard  to  what 
had  happened. 

"  She  can  hardly  do  otherwise,"  he  thought, 
"  when  she  learns  how  distressed  I  am  at 
the  thought  of  having  given  her  pain,  and 
how  anxious  I  am  that  the  matter  shall  go  no 
further." 

But  just  as  he  was  beginning  to  eat  the  break 
fast  which  the  attendant  had  brought  to  him, 
the  negro  messenger  approached  and  laid  his 
unopened  letter  before  him  without  speaking. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  Land  asked  in  a 
tone  that  seemed  to  imply  some  fault  or  mis 
conduct  on  the  messenger's  part. 

3°4 


FRIGHT   AND    FLIGHT 

"  Dunno,  sir,"  answered  the  negro,  doggedly. 

"Why  didn't  you  deliver  the  letter  to  the 
young  lady  in  person  ? " 

"  Dat's  jes'  what  I  done  been  and  done, 
sir." 

"Then  how  is  it  that  it  comes  back  un 
opened  ?  " 

"  Reckon  dat's  'case  de  young  lady  didn't 
open  it,  sir." 

"What  did  she  say?" 

"She  jes'  looken'  at  de  letter  an'  han'  it 
back  to  me,  an'  she  done  say,  '  Take  dat  back 
to  John  Land,'  dat's  all,  sir." 

"Why  didn't  you  ask  her  what  you  should 
say  to  me  about  it?" 

"  I  clone  do    dat,  sir." 

"  Well,  what  did  she  say  ?  Go  on,  you  block 
head,  and  tell  me  all  about  it." 

"Well,  sir,  when  I  clone  axed  her  what  to 
say  to  you,  she  straightened  up,  proud  and 
highty-tighty-like,  an'  she  says,  says  she, 
'Anything  you  like,  I  ain't  got  no  messages 
to  sen' ; '  an'  then  she  tole  me  to  go,  an'  I  said, 
'  'Fore  de  Lawd,'  an'  dat's  all  dere  was  to  it." 

305 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Land  pushed  away  his  plate  and  left  the 
dining  room.  As  he  entered  the  hotel  office, 
a  bell-boy  carrying  a  card  on  a  tray  met  him 
and  held  out  the  bit  of  pasteboard.  On  it 
was  inscribed,  "  G.  W.  Rukensdorff,  M.C.," 
for  that  accidental  statesman  still  called  him 
self  a  member  of  Congress,  though  he  had 
ceased  to  be  such  many  moons  before. 

"  Show  him  up  to  my  room  at  once,"  said 
Land,  as  he  himself  started  up  the  stairs. 

"  Reckon  Mr.  Land  mus'  be  feelin'  bad  dis 
mornin',"  said  the  servitor  to  one  of  his 
comrades. 

"  What  makes  you  think  dat  ? " 

"'  Case  he  didn't  stay  in  de  dinin'  room  long 
enough  to  git  his  breakfas',  an'  now  he's  as 
white  as  a  ghos'." 

John  Land  was  not  ill,  in  any  ordinary  sense, 
but  he  was  certainly  feeling  worse  than  a  very 
ill  man  might.  Gabrielle's  curt  return  of  the 
unopened  letter  had  brought  back  to  him  all 
the  apprehensions  and  disturbed  imaginings 
of  the  night.  He  instantly  interpreted  it  to 
mean  that  she  was  even  angrier  with  him  than 
306 


FRIGHT   AND    FLIGHT 

he  had  feared,  and  that  she  was  only  biding  her 
time  to  report  the  whole  matter  to  Hugh 
Marvin  on  his  return.  Now  had  come  Rukens- 
dorfF s  card,  and  the  desire  of  that  personage  to 
see  him  filled  him  with  fear  on  another  score. 
He  had  already  had  some  dealings  with  the 
ex-congressman,  and  he  knew  both  his  purposes 
and  his  methods. 

As  an  ex-member  of  Congress,  Rukensdorff 
had  what  is  called  the  "privilege  of  the  floor." 
That  is  to  say,  he  was  free,  as  outsiders  are 
not,  to  enter  the  House  while  it  was  in  session. 
Availing  himself  of  this  privilege,  he  had  set 
himself  up  in  Washington  as  a  professional 
lobbyist.  He  called  his  work  "influencing 
legislation,"  and  in  fact  he  did  influence  legisla 
tion  now  in  a  far  larger  measure  than  he  had 
ever  been  able  to  do  while  actually  a  member 
of  Congress. 

By  way  of  facilitating  his  business,  he  had 
reconciled  himself  with  the  man  Avalon,  who 
had  defeated  and  succeeded  him.  He  had 
accurately  taken  the  moral  measure  of  this 
his  successor,  and  felt  that  they  two,  acting 

3°7 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

together,  could  "  do  business "  with  profit  to 
both. 

Early  in  the  session  Avalon  had  introduced 
a  resolution,  reciting  that  there  were  rumors  of 
frauds  perpetrated  upon  the  government  in  con 
nection  with  the  preparation  and  shipment  of 
captured  cotton,  and  directing  a  congressional 
inquiry  into  the  matter. 

There  were  no  names  mentioned  in  the  reso 
lution,  but  John  Land  understood,  and  he  hur 
ried  to  New  York,  from  which  port  there  were 
frequent  sailings.  There  Rukensdorff  had  met 
him  and  proposed  to  arrange  the  matter  "for  a 
consideration."  Avalon  had  secured  the  refer 
ence  of  his  resolution  to  a  committee  of  which 
he  was  himself  a  member,  and  Rukensdorff 
explained  that  it  would  be  easy  for  Avalon  to 
let  the  thing  die  in  committee,  if  Land  would 
"  make  it  worth  his  while." 

"These  things  are  quite  customary,"  he 
urged;  "you  see  every  committee  has  more 
business  before  it  than  it  can  attend  to,  and  so 
if  the  mover  of  a  resolution  or  the  introducer  of 
a  bill  doesn't  call  it  up,  it  simply  goes  to  sleep." 
308 


On  that  occasion  John  Land  had  furnished 
Rukensdorff  a  financial  sleeping  potion  to  be 
administered  to  Avalon's  resolution,  and  he  had 
hoped  that  that  would  be  the  end  of  the  matter. 
But  there  is  always  this  difficulty  about  pay 
ing  blackmail,  —  that  the  payment  must  be 
repeated  and  increased  from  time  to  time  if  it 
is  to  remain  effective. 

So  when  John  Land  received  Rukensdorff's 
card  at  the  hotel  in  Cairo  that  morning  he 
shrewdly  suspected  the  purpose  of  the  visit. 

When  the  ex-congressman  opened  the  conver 
sation,  his  manner  was  noticeably  less  persua 
sive  and  more  confident  than  it  had  been  on  the 
former  occasion. 

"  Have  you  seen  that,  Mr.  Land  ? "  he  asked, 
handing  the  other  a  newspaper  and  pointing 
to  a  marked  paragraph. 

Land  anxiously  read  the  despatch,  which 
revealed  that  a  certain  member  of  Congress,  not 
Avalon,  had  on  the  day  before  asked  in  open 
session  why  the  Avalon  resolution  had  not  yet 
been  reported  out  of  committee. 

"The  session  is  nearing  its  end,"  he  had  gone 

3°9 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

on  to  say,  "and  if  we  intend  to  hunt  down  these 
cotton  thieves,  we  must  act  at  once.  If  we  do 
not  appoint  a  committee  to  investigate  during 
the  recess,  there  is  the  gravest  danger  that  the 
evidence  may  disappear,  or  that  in  some  other 
way  the  matter  may  be  dropped." 

The  despatch  went  on  to  say  that  Avalon  had 
explained  the  delay  by  saying  that  he  had  not 
yet  been  able  to  lay  before  the  committee  a 
sufficiently  definite  statement  to  warrant  a  re 
port  of  the  resolution  for  the  consideration  of 
the  House,  but  that  he  hoped  to  do  so  without 
much  further  delay. 

When  Land  had  read  the  passage  through,  he 
turned  to  Rukensdorff,  saying  :  — 

"  I  paid  you  to  suppress  this  thing,  and  you 
promised  to  do  so." 

"  I  have  done  all  that  I  promised,"  jauntily 
answered  the  other.  "  I  promised  to  see  to  it 
that  Avalon  should  not  stir  the  matter  up  in 
committee,  and  I  have  kept  my  word.  You  see 
Avalon  has  done  not  a  thing  in  the  matter. 
But  neither  he  nor  I  nor  both  of  us  together 
could  prevent  this  other  fellow  from  putting  his 
310 


FRIGHT   AND    FLIGHT 

oar  in.  Even  when  he  did  so,  you  observe 
Avalon  did  all  he  could  to  quiet  him  by  his 
explanation,  and  so  nothing  was  done  about  the 
thing.  But  I  know  the  man  who  tried  to  stir 
the  matter  up.  He's  a  sharp  fellow,  and  he's 
on  the  make.  He'll  wait  for  a  few  days  to  see 
if  anybody  catches  on  and  ponies  up.  If  they 
don't,  he'll  have  another  try.  He'll  move  to 
instruct  the  committee  to  report  Avalon's  reso 
lution  to  the  House  for  consideration.  So 
there's  no  time  to  lose." 

"  Can  you  handle  him  ?  "  asked  Land. 

"Yes,  I  think  so;  but  he'll  want  big  money, 
and  he  won't  take  anything  less.  You  see  if 
he  can't  get  his  price,  it  will  pay  him  better  to 
press  the  matter  to  an  issue,  and  in  that  way 
make  a  reputation  for  himself  as  a  'terror  to 
evil-doers.'  Then  next  time  his  chance  comes, 
the  people  concerned  will  see  the  point  and  pay 
his  price." 

By  this  time  the  clammy  sweat  of  the  night 
before  had  begun  again  to  ooze  through  John 
Land's  skin. 

At  that  moment,  and  before  he  could  decide 

311 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

what  to  say  or  what  to  do,  there  came  a  rap  at 
the  door,  and  a  messenger  entered  bearing  a 
note.  Land  recognized  the  handwriting  on 
the  envelope,  and  he  hastily  tore  it  open. 
Within  was  a  very  brief  note  which  read  :  — 

" JOHN  LAND  : 

"  It  is  my  desire  that  you  leave  Cairo  to-day. 
I  enclose  the  new  time-table  of  the  Illinois 
Central,  showing  the  hours  of  departure  of  the 

several  trains. 

"WILLIAM  HALLAM." 

John  Land  perfectly  understood  what  that 
meant,  and  he  knew  that  he  must  obey  the 
mandate.  He  had  not  forgotten  the  circum 
stances  under  which  he  had  left  Captain  Hal- 
lam's  service,  and  he  knew  what  means  his 
former  employer  had  of  enforcing  his  decree 
of  banishment. 

He  instantly  came  to  a  decision.  Turning 
to  Rukensdorff,  he  said  :  — 

"You  must  give  me  a  little  time  to  think.  I 
must  have  time  to  arrange  for  all  this.  One 
naturally  can't  put  his  hands  on  such  a  wad  of 
312 


FRIGHT   AND   FLIGHT 

ready  money  as  this  affair  will  require,  without 
a  little  time." 

"But  this  thing  won't  wait,"  answered  the 
other.  "  I  must  leave  Cairo  for  Washington  by 
the  midnight  train." 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  Land,  as  if  reflecting. 
"  Suppose  you  call  here  at  seven  o'clock  this 
evening.  There'll  be  time  enough  between 
then  and  midnight  to  arrange  matters  between 
us,  and  in  the  meanwhile  I'll  get  my  affairs  in 
shape  so  as  to  be  ready  to  settle  the  financial 
part  of  the  matter." 

So  agreeing,  the  visitor  took  his  leave.  Land 
was  not  deceived  by  any  of  his  pretences.  He 
saw  clearly  that  Avalon  and  Rukensdorff  were 
acting  together  for  the  purpose  of  "  bleeding " 
him,  as  he  phrased  it ;  that  Avalon's  resolution 
had  been  introduced  in  the  first  place  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  extorting  money  from  him  ;  and 
that  now,  in  order  to  extort  another  and  greater 
sum,  these  two  had  associated  a  third  congress 
man  with  them  —  the  one  who  had  made  the 
inquiries  on  the  day  before. 

"  It's  a  set-up  job,"  he  muttered  as  his  visitor 

3*3 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

was  descending  the  stairs,  "  and  the  worst  of  it 
is,  there  is  no  end  to  such  a  game.  If  I  pay 
this  time,  presently  they'll  take  in  a  fourth  part 
ner  and  demand  a  still  bigger  pile.  It'll  go  on 
so  till  I'll  be  a  squeezed  lemon.  There  is  only 
one  way  out  of  it.  There's  a  Cunard  steamer 
sailing  Saturday  morning  early.  I  can  catch 
her  if  I  have  good  luck." 

He  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  Nine  o'clock.  The  express  train  leaves  at 
10. 10.  I  must  hustle." 

Instantly  he  sat  down  and  wrote  a  note  to  be 
delivered  to  Rukensdorff  when  he  should  call 
at  seven  in  the  evening.  In  it  he  explained 
that  he  had  been  suddenly  and  peremptorily 
called  to  Washington  on  another  matter, 
adding :  — 

"Come  to  me  at  Willard's  when  you  reach 
the  capital.  I'll  have  everything  in  shape  then 
for  an  immediate  settlement.  In  that  way  we 
shall  lose  no  time  by  reason  of  my  inability  to 
meet  you  this  evening  as  arranged." 

Having  sealed  this  note  he  addressed  it, 
writing  on  the  envelope,  "  The  hotel  clerk 

3M- 


FRIGHT   AND   FLIGHT 

will  please  deliver  this  to  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Rukensdorff,  when  he  calls  to  see  me  this 
evening.  J.  L." 

Leaving  the  note  on  his  desk,  —  for  he  did 
not  intend  to  place  it  in  the  clerk's  hands 
until  the  last  moment,  lest  by  some  chance 
Rukensdorff  should  happen  in  to  the  hotel 
and  receive  it  prematurely,  —  Land  went  to 
Napper  Tandry's  bank,  and  secured  a  large 
japanned  tin  box  which  he  had  deposited 
in  the  vault  there  for  safe  keeping.  He 
also  checked  out  of  the  bank  pretty  nearly 
all  the  large  sum  of  money  which  he  had 
on  deposit  there. 

Then,  returning  to  the  hotel,  he  locked 
the  door,  opened  the  tin  box,  and  stuffed  the 
great  mass  of  government  bonds  that  it  con 
tained  into  a  large  hand-bag.  Packing  the 
box  full  of  old  newspapers  and  the  like,  he 
returned  to  the  bank  and  asked  that  it  be 
again  deposited  in  the  vault. 

He  next  packed  a  trunk,  and  at  the  last 
moment  paid  a  porter  to  take  it  to  the  train, 
while  he,  carrying  the  large  hand-bag  and 

3'S 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

a  smaller  one  which  held  necessary  toilet 
articles,  walked  the  small  distance  between 
the  hotel  and  the  station.  As  he  passed 
the  hotel  office  he  left  the  note  for  delivery 
to  Rukensdorff,  and  hurriedly  asked  the  clerk 
to  have  the  carpets  in  his  rooms  cleaned  and 
relaid  during  his  "brief  absence  in  Wash 
ington." 

He  was  so  like  a  hunted  fox,  and  his  coward 
ice  conjured  up  so  many  terrifying  imaginings, 
that  he  even  purchased  his  ticket  for  Washing 
ton,  by  way  of  concealing  his  real  destination. 
He  could  buy  another  ticket  for  New  York  at 
Chicago. 


316 


TELL  ME  ALL  ABOUT   IT,  PEAK,"  SHE  SAID  i.v  IIKK  WINNING 

WAY. 


XXXI 

TWO  WOMEN 

UT  why  not,  dear  ? " 

That  was  Lida  Hallam's  question 
in  answer  to  Gabrielle's  statement 
that  she  thought  she  ought  not  to  read 
Hugh's  letter.  She  spoke  in  even,  level, 
gentle  tones  that  expressed  no  emotion,  not 
even  surprise.  Then  she  waited  for  the  girl 
to  answer. 

For  a  time  Gabrielle  did  not  speak.  Pres 
ently  Mrs.  Hallam  sat  down  by  her  side 
on  the  little  sofa,  passed  her  arm  around  the 
girl,  and  caressingly  drew  her  to  herself. 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  dear,"  she  said  in  her 
winning  way. 

The  girl  responded  to  the  caress  by  laying 
her  head  upon  the  other's  breast  and  bursting 
into  tears. 

317 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

Lida  Halla—  was  fir  ::o  wise  a  woman  to 
attempt  any  interference  with  the  weeping. 
She  ksew  that  unrestrained  tears  are  to  a 

:  man   wn.it    tne    satetv    va-ve    is 


the  passim  of  the  wrman  s  srul  expend  itsel: 
At  list,  with  3.  s^rt  cf  sh2Jk.e,  ^s  if  to  throw 

*•  Yes.    thit   will    r-e   best  —  tr-   tell    vcu   all 

about   it.     For  you,  at  least,  l:ve  me.    ID  YOU 

not,  Lifa?" 

**  ^.  c*n  know.""  \fc'-:^  t"~e  ^-ifri^'eti*  an^^e*" 
The-  a^::her  and  a  distressing  thzught  arose 

~+     ^       .     -,      .  -  —  . 

HI     vj2.I>T~Lc_:r  S     HHZ.—  .       ^11^     .LTI  S£     II      Ilrr     Icct, 

^      '  *  *  *  *  **"  **  *     c  "***          —  —  w 

asked  :  — 

:aa.  nave  v:_  -^  __  a  ~~~  :~IT  .  '.vis 

^ 

lrrir_g  en  Hugh  Marvin's  ch^riry  ?  " 

:  _:    sne   res:._:te-v  c:ntr:-_ca  ner  v?:ce  as  she 


TWO   WOMEN 

"Certainly  not,  Gabrieile ;  I  do  not  at  all 
know  what  you  mean.  Tell  me." 

"  I  will,"  answered  the  girl,  sinking  back  to 
her  seat  "  But  if  you  h^  known  of  that  all 
along  and  had  consented  to  it,  keeping  me  in 
ignorance  of  my  own  humiliating  situation,  I 
would  not  have  told  you  anything.  I  think  I 
should  have  stopped  loving  you  —  or  at  least 
I  would  have  tried  to  do  that." 

••  I  am  waiting  to  hear,"  answered  Mrs.  Hal- 
lam,  again  drawing  the  girl's  head  down  upon 
her  breast. 

"You  know,"  Gabrieile  began,  "how  Mr. 
Marvin  rescued  me  from  starvation  down 
there  on  the  bayou.  I've  told  you  all  about 
that." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that  story,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Well,  that's  the  worst  of  it  If  it  were  not 
for  that,  I  would  know  now  what  I  ought  to  do. 
As  it  is,  I  don't  know." 

'•  I  cannot  understand  that,  Gabrieile," 
answered  Mrs.  Hallam,  in  real  perplexity.  "  I 
do  not  see  how  or  why  the  fact  that  he  came 
to  your  assistance  at  a  time  of  terrible  need,  as 

3*9 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

any  manly  man  must  have  done,  should  make 
difficulty  for  you  now." 

"Why,  you  see,  I  am  grateful  to  him,  or  I 
have  been  during  nearly  a  year  now,  for  that 
and  for  all  his  other  kindnesses  to  me,  and  that 
is  what  troubles  me.  I  must  never  see  him 
again  or  write  to  him  or  know  anything  about 
him,  after  he  gets  this,"  and  with  that  she 
handed  the  check  and  her  own  curt  note  to  her 
friend  to  read. 

Again  Mrs.  Hallam  was  astonished  and  puz 
zled  and  grieved.  But  she  expressed  none  of 
these  feelings.  She  simply  retained  the  check 
and  note  and  waited  for  the  girl  to  continue. 

"  You  see,  Lida,  I  must  now  behave  in  a  way 
that  will  make  him  think  me  cruelly  ungrate 
ful." 

"  I  do  not  understand  why.  You  have  told 
me  nothing  that  suggests  any  such  necessity." 

"  Oh,  I  forgot.  I  haven't  told  you  yet,  and  so 
of  course  you  do  not  understand.  Let  me  go 
on.  When  he  found  out  how  destitute  I  was, 
he  wanted  me  to  come  here  and  live  with  you. 
But  you  see  it  wouldn't  have  been  accepting 
320 


TWO    WOMEN 

hospitality  merely,  for  I  had  no  clothes  except 
those  that  I  was  wearing,  and  of  course  I  could 
not  let  you  provide  for  me  in  that  way.  Even 
if  I  had  known  you  then  and  loved  you  as  I  do 
now,  I  could  never  have  consented  to  that.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  you  were  a  complete  stranger 
to  me.  When  I  explained  the  matter  to  him, 
he  questioned  me  about  things  in  his  gentle, 
unobtrusive  way,  and  I  told  him  about  our  five 
bales  of  buried  cotton  that  somebody  had  dug 
up  and  stolen.  A  little  later  he  told  me  he  had 
found  our  cotton  on  his  boat.  No,  he  didn't 
exactly  tell  me  that,  I  remember  now,  though 
I  didn't  think  of  it  at  the  time.  He  showed  me 
the  cotton  and  let  me  think  it  was  mine.  He 
sold  it  for  me  and  gave  me  the  money  for  it  — 
four  thousand  dollars,  Lida.  I  know  now  that 
the  cotton  was  not  mine  at  all.  He  marked  it 
so  as  to  make  me  think  it  mine,  and  he  paid  his 
partners  for  it.  Oh,  Lida,  think  of  it.  He 
gave  me  all  that  money  and  I  accepted  it,  and 
have  been  spending  it,  and  I  suppose  every 
body  in  Cairo  knows  I'm  a  pauper  living  on  his 
charity." 

321 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

It  was  now  Lida  Hallam's  time  to  speak. 

"  Nobody  in  Cairo  knows  anything  of  the 
kind,  Gabrielle.  If  anybody  knew  it,  do  you 
suppose  I  should  not  have  heard  about  it.  Tell 
me  one  thing :  who  told  you  all  this  ? " 

"John  Land." 

"John  Land  is  a  thief,"  answered  Mrs.  Hal- 
lam.  "  Will  could  send  him  to  state's  prison  if 
he  would.  He  decided  this  morning,  after  you 
left  the  breakfast  table,  to  order  him  to  leave 
Cairo  to-day,  and  you  may  be  very  sure  he  will 
go  and  not  return.  But  now  let  us  look  at  the 
matter  in  another  way.  Suppose  it  is  true. 
Suppose  Hugh,  finding  that  you  would  not 
accept  help  in  your  terrible  need,  did  invent 
the  device  of  the  cotton  bales.  Was  it  not 
an  altogether  kindly  thought  ?  " 

"Yes,  but  —  " 

"Wait,  dear.  Let  me  finish.  You  know 
Hugh  pretty  well  by  this  time.  Do  you  im 
agine  or  believe  that  he  ever  told  anybody  of 
what  he  had  done,  or  that  he  would  ever  have 
let  you  or  anybody  else  know  of  it  ?  " 

"No,  but  —  " 

322 


TWO   WOMEN 

"Wait,  dear.  You  know  that  Hugh  is  a 
very  careful  business  man,  who  looks  shrewdly 
after  his  financial  interests.  He  is  not  even  yet 
a  rich  man,  though  his  business  is  prosperous, 
and  I  suppose  he  has  about  doubled  his  pos 
sessions  since  the  time  of  which  we  speak. 
The  sum  of  money  represented  by  the  cotton 
bales  at  that  time  meant  a  great  deal  to  him. 
Now  in  view  of  all  these  things,  what  do  you 
suppose  prompted  such  a  man  to  give  you  such 
a  sum  ? " 

"  Why,  simply  because  he  pitied  me,  and  that 
is  what  angers  and  distresses  me  so." 

"That  was  not  it,  dear.  His  pity  would 
have  been  satisfied  by  a  very  much  smaller 
generosity.  It  might  have  led  him  to  ask  me 
to  take  you  to  teach  the  children  on  a  salary, 
but  that  is  quite  all  that  mere  pity  would 
have  prompted  him  to  do.  You  may  be  sure 
of  that.  But  he  did  not  want  you  to  do  any 
thing  for  hire.  He  wanted  you  to  feel  your 
self  independent,  and  he  wanted  others  so  to 
regard  you.  He  was  moved  to  feel  a  great 
tenderness  toward  you,  an  abounding  pride  for 

323 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

you.  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  to  ask  your 
self  why  he  felt  in  that  way  ?  I  am  very 
certain  there x was  never  another  woman  in  all 
the  world  for  whom  he  would  have  done  what 
he  did  in  your  case." 

The  girl  raised  her  head  and  sat  up  flushing, 
but  she  made  no  answer  for  a  time.  At  last 
she  asked  :  — 

"How  could  I  —  " 

There  she  stopped,  and  her  friend  came  to 
the  rescue. 

"  I  quite  understand.  You  could  not  assume 
anything  by  way  of  explaining  his  conduct. 
You  could  not  take  anything  for  granted,  un 
less  he  gave  you  leave  by  some  hint  or 
suggestion." 

The  girl  remembered  the  letter  in  which 
"other  things"  were  thrice  mentioned,  and  she 
flushed  again  as  she  realized  what  interpreta 
tion  she  had  half  allowed  herself  to  put  upon 
the  words,  but  she  sat  still,  saying  nothing. 
After  a  minute  Lida  Hallam  began  again: — - 

"  Let  us  put  all  that  aside  for  the  present. 
You  know  at  least  that  Hugh  has  a  very 

324 


TWO    WOMEN 

generous  feeling  toward  you  —  such  as  few 
men  are  capable  of  feeling  toward  any  woman. 
You  know  that  however  he  may  have  erred  in 
judgment,  his  purpose  has  been  to  make  you 
happy.  You  know  that  the  letter  you  hold 
unopened  in  your  hand,  whatever  it  may  con 
tain,  was  written  for  your  sake.  Do  you  think 
you  ought  to  insult  him  by  refusing  to  read  it? 
I  am  going  away  now  for  a  while,  so  that  you 
may  be  alone.  I  hope  you  will  read  the  letter." 
After  she  had  gone  Gabrielle  sat  for  a  time 
thinking  the  matter  over  with  alternating  re 
sentment  and  tenderness  in  her  heart.  At 
last  she  opened  the  letter  and  began  to  read 
it.  She  had  read  scarcely  more  than  the  first 
paragraph,  when  she  rose  to  her  feet,  her  whole 
frame  in  a  quiver  of  excitement.  Her  hair, 
loosened  during  the  time  when  her  head  had 
lain  upon  Lida's  breast,  fell  from  its  fasten 
ings  and  hung  down  about  her  shoulders,  while 
she  found  it  necessary  every  second  or  two  to 
brush  her  hand  across  her  eyes  by  way  of 
clearing  them  of  tears.  In  this  dishevelled 
condition,  she  opened  her  door,  without  wait- 

325 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

ing  to  finish  the  perusal  of  her  letter,  and 
ran  down  the  hallway  to  the  nursery,  which 
in  her  eagerness  she  opened  without  pausing 
to  knock. 

"  Oh,  Lida ! "  she  exclaimed,  still  sobbing 
and  holding  out  the  letter,  —  "  read  it,  read  it. 
I  can't  tell  you  !  " 

Meanwhile  the  little  people,  seeing  her  tears, 
fell  a-crying  in  sympathy ;  but  seeing  that  her 
weeping  was  to  an  accompaniment  of  laughter, 
they  quickly  ceased,  and  stood  gazing  at  her, 
not  understanding.  Presently  she  caught  them 
up,  one  after  another,  and  kissed  them  many 
times,  saying :  — 

"Don't  cry,  oh,  don't  cry,  for  Aunty  Gabrielle 
is  so  happy,  so  happy  !  " 

Mrs.  Hallam,  having  finished  a  hurried  read 
ing  of  the  letter,  caressed  the  girl  with  all  the 
warmth  of  her  strong  and  tender  woman's  na 
ture,  and  gently  led  her  back  to  her  room  again. 

"  May  I  stay  and  rejoice  with  you,  dear,  or 
would  you  perhaps  prefer  to  be  alone  with  your 
happiness  for  a  time  ?  It  shall  be  just  as  you 
wish." 

326 


TWO   WOMEN 

"  Oh,  you  are  to  stay  with  me.  I  must  read 
the  letter  again.  I've  only  read  a  part  of  it." 

Her  agitation  was  such  that  she  could  not 
hold  the  sheet  up  before  her  eyes  without  trem 
bling  so  as  to  render  the  words  illegible.  So 
she  spread  it  out  upon  her  desk  and  eagerly 
read  it  through. 

It  was  altogether  a  man's  letter,  —  the  letter 
of  a  man  accustomed  to  go  straight  to  the  mar 
row  of  his  meaning. 

"  Your  brother  Pierre  is  alive  and  is  in  New 
Orleans,  recovering  from  his  terrible  wounds," 
the  letter  began.  "  He  will  recover  entirely, 
the  doctors  say,  but  his  left  leg  has  been  am 
putated  above  the  knee  —  not  recently,  but 
immediately  after  he  was  picked  up  wounded 
on  the  battle-field  at  Gettysburg.  The  leg  has 
completely  healed,  so  that  he  will  be  able  to 
wear  the  cork  leg  that  I  have  sent  North  to 
have  made  for  him.  If  the  leg  wound  had  been 
all,  he  would  now  be  well,  but  he  was  terribly 
wounded  through  the  body,  and  for  more  than  a 
year  he  lay  in  hospital  at  the  North.  Then, 
having  become  a  convalescent,  he  was  sent  here 

327 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

to  complete  his  recovery,  lest  the  severity  of  a 
Northern  winter  should  bring  on  trouble  with 
his  lungs.  When  he  grew  strong  enough,  he 
was  aided  to  escape  from  the  prison  hospital, 
and  he  is  now  comfortably  cared  for  in  the 
house  of  a  friend  whose  name  I  must  not  men 
tion,  for  obvious  reasons.  I  have  not  yet  seen 
Pierre,  lest  my  going  to  him  should  lead  to  his 
discovery  and  rearrest,  but  I  have  seen  the 
friend  who  is  sheltering  him,  and  I  can  tell  you 
positively  that  he  is  now  completely  out  of  dan 
ger.  I  have  that  assurance  from  the  surgeon 
who  has  been  treating  him. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Gabrielle,  I  can  easily 
imagine  the  joy  this  news  of  mine  will  give  you  ; 
but  you  cannot  know,  you  never  will  know,  what 
it  means  to  me  to  be  the  bearer  of  such  tidings 
to  you.  I  shall  try  to  make  you  understand 
what  I  feel  when  I  see  you  and  have  an  oppor 
tunity  for  unrestrained  talk.  I  cannot  say  how 
soon  that  will  be.  My  own  business  here  is 
nearly  finished  now,  but  I  shall  stay  awhile  in 
order  to  see  if  I  cannot  secure  Pierre's  release. 
I  have  influence  enough  for  that,  I  think,  or 
328 


TWO   WOMEN 

rather,  I  hope ;  and  if  I  succeed,  I  shall  take  him 
with  me  to  Cairo.  In  the  meanwhile  perhaps 
you  had  better  say  nothing  about  the  matter  to 
anybody  but  Lida  and  Will." 

There  the  letter  ended,  as  abruptly  as  it  had 
begun,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  the  letter  of  a 
business  man.  But  there  was  a  postscript,  in 
which  Hugh  added  :  — 

"  Your  property  seems  in  good  shape.  The 
New  Orleans  house  and  grounds  have  been  well 
cared  for  by  the  officers  who  are  occupying 
them  as  headquarters.  I  have  been  to  the 
plantation  also.  It  is  a  very  fine  possession, 
and  will  make  you  and  Pierre  financially  very 
comfortable  if  there  are  no  confiscation  laws 
enacted.  However,  I'll  tell  you  all  about  the 
property  later.  This  letter  is  simply  to  tell 
you  about  Pierre." 


329 


XXXII 

GABRIELLE'S   PERPLEXITY 

THE  two  women  remained  together 
rejoicing.  Mrs.  Hallam  was  about 
to  withdraw,  thinking  that  the  girl 
might  prefer  to  be  alone  with  her  happiness 
for  a  time,  but  to  that  suggestion  Gabrielle 
earnestly,  almost  violently,  answered:  — 

"  No,  no,  no !  Please  don't  leave  me,  Lida. 
The  good  news  is  too  much  for  me  to  bear 
alone.  You  must  help  me  endure  it." 

Then  she  turned  to  the  letter  and  read  it 
again  —  this  time  reading  it  aloud.  As  she 
finished  she  exclaimed  :  — 

"And  it  was  Hugh  Marvin  who  did  that  for 
me,  Lida.  Was  there  ever  so  good  a  man  in 
the  world  ?  Was  there  ever  such  a  friend  ? 
And  an  hour  ago,  —  while  that  letter  lay  there 
unopened,  —  I  was  angry  and  resentful  in  my 
feeling  toward  him !  " 

33° 


GABRIELLE'S    PERPLEXITY 

That  sentence  brought  back  her  perplexity 
of  mind.  It  reminded  her  that  even  yet  there 
was  no  way  out  of  her  difficulty.  It  was 
still  true  that  she  had  accepted  Hugh  Mar 
vin's  money,  and  she  had  yet  to  decide  what 
she  should  do  about  it.  But  somehow  she 
found  herself  able  to  face  that  thought  with 
out  anger  now,  and  with  far  less  of  humilia 
tion  than  before.  The  problem  still  confronted 
her,  however,  and  the  tumult  of  emotions  that 
filled  her  soul  rendered  her  for  the  time  at 
least  unfit  to  grapple  with  it. 

"  I  can't  think  it  out,  Lida,"  she  said,  with 
out  explaining  to  what  she  referred.  "  My 
head  is  in  a  whirl.  But  one  thing  is  certain : 
I'll  never  send  that  note  to  the  man  who  has 
brought  such  joy  to  me.  It  would  be  like 
slapping  him  in  the  face." 

As  she  spoke  she  took  up  the  sheet  on  which 
she  had  that  morning  written  her  curt  message 
to  accompany  the  check,  and  thrust  it  into  the 
little  nest  of  slowly  dying  fire  that  still  re 
mained  in  the  grate.  But  Mrs.  Hallam  observed 
that  she  did  not  destroy  the  check. 

33 * 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Presently  the  half-hysterical  girl  turned  al 
most  savagely  upon  her  friend,  saying:  — 

"  I  must  do  something,  Lida.  Don't  you 
see  I  must  do  something  ?  I  can't  sit  here 
any  longer.  I  feel  like  running,  or  shouting, 
or  breaking  something.  Tell  me  what  I  can 
do.  No,  don't.  I  know  for  myself  now.  I'll 
send  for  Moses  to  bring  Hotfoot  up,  and  I'll 
go  out  on  the  levee  and  run  her  at  top  speed. 
She's  his  mare,  you  know,  and  he  would  like 
that  best.  Won't  you  go  with  me,  Lida  ?  " 

"Yes,  dear,  I'll  ride  with  you.  First  let  me 
telegraph  for  Moses  to  bring  the  mare.  Then 
I'll  order  my  own  saddle-horse." 

There  were  no  telephones  in  that  day,  — 
forty  years  ago,  —  but  Captain  Will  Hallam 
had  strung  telegraph  wires  from  his  house  to 
his  office  and  his  warehouses,  and  to  the  homes 
of  all  his  chief  clerks.  He  had  required  all 
of  them  to  learn  to  send  and  receive  telegraphic 
messages,  and  for  her  own  convenience  Mrs. 
Hallam  had  made  herself  an  expert  in  that 
rather  easily  acquired  art.  She  now  went  to 
the  instrument,  called  up  her  husband's  office, 

332 


GABRIELLE'S   PERPLEXITY 

and  asked  that  Moses  be  instructed  to  bring 
Hotfoot  to  the  house. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  two  women  were 
galloping  through  the  woodlands  just  outside 
the  town.  Gabrielle  had  once  or  twice  pushed 
her  horse  into  a  full  run  for  half  a  mile  or  so, 
but  she  was  content  now  with  a  less  violent 
speed,  and  presently  the  two  Amazons  slowed 
their  steeds  down  to  a  footpace  and  began  to 
talk  together. 

There  was  something  in  Gabrielle's  mind 
which  she  several  times  tried  to  put  into  words, 
but  without  any  very  marked  success.  Still, 
Lida  Hallam  was  able  to  divine  her  thought, 
and  to  encourage  it. 

"  After  all,  Lida,"  the  girl  said,  "  it  is  natural 
for  men  to  be  good  to  women  and  to  take  care 
of  them,  only  —  " 

There  she  suspended  her  sentence,  because 
its  continuance  must  involve  an  assumption 
that  she  was  unwilling  to  admit  even  to  herself 
that  she  had  made  in  her  own  mind. 

"  Certainly  it  is,"  replied  her  friend.  "  That 
is  what  men  were  born  for.  It  is  the  chief 

333 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

joy  a  well-constituted  man  has  in  life,  and  the 
best  service  a  woman  can  render  any  man  who 
loves  her  is  to  recognize  and  enjoy  her  own 
dependence  upon  his  tender  care  of  her.  And 
women  were  made  for  that  too." 

Seeing  that  Gabrielle  did  not  reply,  Mrs. 
Hallam  rightly  interpreted  her  silence.  Until 
Hugh  Marvin  should  declare  his  love  for  her, 
she  would  not  utter  a  syllable  that  should  seem 
to  assume  the  existence  or  even  the  possibility 
of  that  love. 

"  She  knows  it  well  enough,"  thought  the 
elder  woman.  "  She  could  not  fail  to  read  it 
in  between  the  lines  of  Hugh's  letter,  even  if 
he  has  given  her  no  other  suggestion  of  it.  She 
shies  away  from  admitting  her  interpretation  of 
his  words,  and  that's  quite  as  it  should  be." 

Then  she  eased  the  situation  a  trifle  by 
saying :  — 

"  I  think  I  never  told  you  of  it,  but  when  our 
father  died  —  Hugh's  and  mine  —  his  estate 
was  greatly  involved.  We  had  always  lived 
expensively,  supposing  our  father  to  be  rich, 
but  when  Hugh  came  to  look  into  affairs,  he 

334 


GABRIELLE'S    PERPLEXITY 

found  very  little  left  of  the  estate.  Generous 
fellow  that  he  is  and  loving  his  sister  as  he  did, 
he  carefully  concealed  the  fact  of  our  impov 
erishment  from  me.  I  had  just  finished  at 
school,  and  it  had  been  arranged  by  my  father 
that  I  should  go  abroad  for  a  year  in  company 
with  some  friends.  Hugh  insisted  that  the 
plan  should  be  carried  out,  and  I  went,  never 
dreaming  that  he  was  putting  himself  in  straits 
at  home.  In  fact  he  completely  impoverished 
himself  for  my  sake.  He  settled  up  the  estate, 
and  invested  all  that  was  left  of  it  —  his  share 
and  mine  —  in  an  annuity  for  me.  Then  he 
went  to  work.  When  at  last  I  learned  what  he 
had  done,  I  wanted  to  give  back  his  share,  but 
that  could  not  be,  as  it  had  been  invested  in  an 
annuity.  'You  are  a  woman,'  he  said,  'and  I 
am  a  man.  There  was  barely  enough  left  to 
provide  for  you,  even  in  this  small  way.  I 
exercised  my  privilege  as  a  man  in  the  matter. 
I  knew  I  could  take  care  of  myself.'  Not  very 
long  afterward  I  married.  After  a  little  while 
Will  began  to  make  money  rapidly,  and  his 
business  grew  to  such  proportions  that  he  had 

335 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

to  employ  hundreds  of  men  in  various  capaci 
ties —  clerks,  steamboat  officers,  warehousemen, 
and  scores  of  others.  Hugh  had  been  support 
ing  himself  by  work  on  a  stock-farm  in  Ken 
tucky,  but  the  army  operations  had  destroyed 
everything  there,  and  he  decided  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  commercial  ways.  Will  wanted  to 
give  him  all  that  he  had  spent  in  buying  the 
annuity  for  me,  so  that  he  might  have  a  capital 
with  which  to  set  himself  up  in  business.  But 
Hugh  positively  declined  to  accept  a  single 
dollar,  writing  to  me  that  to  do  so  would  '  spoil 
all.'  Then  Will  wanted  him  to  come  to  Cairo 
and  accept  employment  in  his  business.  But 
Hugh  refused  even  that,  saying :  '  I  know  very 
little  about  business.  I  shouldn't  really  earn 
the  wages  Will  would  pay  me,  and  I  will  not  let 
him  support  me.  I  must  make  my  own  way  if 
I  can,  beginning  at  the  bottom  and  working  for 
strangers  who  will  pay  me  only  what  I  really 
earn.  If  I  have  or  can  develop  any  aptitude  for 
business,  I  shall  make  my  own  place  in  the 
world,  as  Will  has  done.  If  I  have  no  capacity, 
then  I  must  take  the  consequences.'  I  am  tell- 

336 


GABRIELLE'S    PERPLEXITY 

ing  you  more  of  the  story,  Gabrielle,  than  I 
intended.  What  I  meant  to  show  you  is  how 
much  it  means  to  a  man  like  Hugh  to  be  per 
mitted  to  care  for  any  woman  that  he  loves." 

That  last  word  sealed  Gabrielle's  lips.  To 
make  any  reply  she  must  either  assume  the 
existence  of  a  state  of  feeling  on  Hugh  Marvin's 
part  which  she  would  not  assume,  or  resort  to  a 
false  pretence  which  she  would  not  do.  There 
fore  she  said  nothing  for  a  time.  She  pushed 
her  mare  into  a  gallop  instead,  and  Mrs.  Hallam 
galloped  by  her  side,  satisfied  that  she  had  fully 
accomplished  her  purpose.  When  at  last  they 
drew  rein,  Gabrielle  asked  :  — 

"Then  you  think  a  woman  should  have  no 
proper  pride,  or  that  if  she  has  it,  she  should 
crucify  it  ? " 

"  Not  at  all,"  answered  the  other.  "  A  woman 
without  proper  pride  is  despicable.  It  is  only 
improper  pride  that  she  should  not  have. 
Women  cannot  help  being  dependent  upon 
men  in  a  thousand  ways.  Nature  intended 
that  they  should  be.  They  are  far  weaker  in 
physique  for  one  thing,  far  more  helpless  in 

337 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

self-defence.  They  must  be  housed  and  shielded 
in  many  ways.  They  must  be  escorted  in  many 
places  where  men  may  freely  go.  It  is  not 
physical  defence  alone  that  they  need.  Their 
reputation  must  be  protected,  and  even  their 
minds  must  be  guarded  against  the  shock  of 
the  knowledge  of  evil.  As  for  support,  man  is 
the  natural  bread-winner,  not  only  because  he 
is  the  stronger,  but  still  more  because  he  is 
free  to  go  out  into  the  world,  while  the  wife 
and  mother  has  imperative  duties  at  home.  It 
is  no  shame  to  women  that  they  accept  support 
and  protection  from  their  mankind.  It  is  their 
right,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  men  to  provide  for 
them.  Every  good  man  esteems  it  his  privilege 
as  well." 

"What  a  lovely  spring  day  it  is,  Lida!" 
That  was  Gabrielle's  inconsequent  reply,  as 
the  two  drew  rein  at  the  Hallam  house,   and 
greeted    the    children    who    had    tumultuously 
scampered  down  the  walk  to  meet  them. 


338 


XXXIII 

AFTER   THE   STORM 

iHE  time  had  now  come  when  Gabrielle 
was  in  the  mood  to  be  alone  with  her 
joy.  Tarrying  only  for  the  luncheon 
which  was  waiting  and  for  which  her  ride  had 
given  her  an  appetite,  she  went  to  her  room 
and  took  up  her  problem  with  a  mind  somewhat 
cleared  by  the  exercise,  and  perhaps  also  by 
the  suggestions  her  friend  had  put  into  it. 

"  Lida  is  right,  in  a  general  way,"  she  re 
flected.  "  We  women  must  be  dependent  upon 
men  in  many  ways,  and  it  is  right  that  we 
should  be.  In  fact  I  doubt  that  any  woman 
would  be  happy  if  it  were  otherwise.  It  is  our 
nature,  I  suppose,  to  lean  upon  strength  that 
is  greater  than  our  own,  and  we  are  happy  in 
feeling  that  those  we  lean  upon  do  not  feel  our 
weight  to  be  a  burden.  But  it  must  be  a  loving 

339 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

strength  if  we  are  to  lean  upon  it  without  a 
humiliating  sense  of  our  dependence.  And  of 
course  —  well,  of  course  that  makes  a  difference 
that  Lida  doesn't  take  sufficiently  into  account. 
She  had  a  right  to  accept  her  brother's  gener 
osity,  because  she  knew  he  —  well,  because  she 
was  his  sister.  It  makes  a  great  difference." 

For  some  reason  this  thought  prompted  the 
girl  to  read  Hugh  Marvin's  letter  again.  Per 
haps  she  wanted  to  satisfy  herself  as  to  the 
correct  interpretation  of  a  part  of  it.  Whether 
she  succeeded  in  that  or  not,  the  reading  gave 
a  new  significance  to  the  postscript,  relating  to 
her  property.  In  her  joy  over  the  news  regard 
ing  her  brother,  she  had  given  no  thought  at 
all  to  what  Hugh  had  written  of  more  material 
things.  She  cared  nothing  for  property  inter 
ests  at  such  a  time,  and  perhaps  there  were 
other  reasons  for  this  indifference  to  the  post 
script.  We  know  at  any  rate  that  her  mind 
had  been  much  occupied  with  thoughts  of 
Hugh  Marvin,  and  what  he  had  so  generously 
done  for  her,  and  what  her  own  attitude  toward 
him  should  now  be. 

340 


AFTER   THE   STORM 

But  now  that  she  had  read  the  letter  again 
and  with  a  less  perturbed  mind,  the  news  con 
tained  in  the  postscript  assumed  a  new  impor 
tance  in  her  eyes. 

"  If  Pierre  and  I  are  to  get  all  that  property 
back,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  shall  be  able  to 
pay  Hugh"  —  for  somehow  she  called  him  that 
in  her  mind  now  —  "all  the  money  I  accepted 
from  him,  with  interest  or  discount,  or  whatever 
they  call  it  in  such  cases.  Then  I  shall  owe 
him  nothing,  and  I  can  meet  him  without  being 
ashamed." 

This  was  a  glad  and  a  gladdening  thought  to 
the  girl  still  oppressed  as  she  was  with  her  sense 
of  obligation.  And  so  changed  was  her  atti 
tude,  that  while  she  rejoiced  thus  in  the  pros 
pect  of  being  able  to  discharge  her  debt,  the 
reflection  was  accompanied  by  none  of  her 
former  resentment  over  the  way  in  which  she 
had  been  deceived  into  a  false  position.  Hugh's 
conduct  in  the  case  seemed  somehow  far  less 
heinous  in  her  view  than  it  had  seemed  before. 
Unconsciously  to  herself,  she  had  begun  to 
recognize  some  sort  of  right  on  his  part  to  do 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

what  he  had  done  for  her.  If  she  could  not  yet 
quite  approve  the  methods  he  had  employed, 
she  was  ready  at  least  to  excuse  what  he  had 
done  in  view  of  the  motives  that  had  inspired 
his  conduct,  or,  as  she  formulated  the  thought 
in  her  own  mind  :  "  At  least  he  has  not  deserved 
that  I  should  affront  him  and  wound  his  feel 
ings.  He  has  been  very,  very  generous.  I 
must  recognize  that  in  common  fairness.  The 
money  isn't  all  I  owe  him.  If  I  am  ever  to  dis 
charge  my  debt  to  him,  I  must  repay  his  unsel 
fish  kindness  with  recognition  besides  handing 
back  his  money.  The  money  is  really  the 
smallest  part  of  the  debt.  I  wonder  I  didn't 
think  of  that  when  I  wrote  that  insulting  note. 
I'm  glad  I  had  a  chance  to  burn  it." 

The  girl's  own  soul  was  pleading  Hugh  Mar 
vin's  suit  in  that  hour  in  a  more  effective  way 
than  any  that  he  could  have  brought  to  bear, 
had  he  been  there  to  plead  it  in  person. 

As  she  sat  there  thinking,  she  felt  a  great 

weariness  stealing  over  her,  and  small  wonder. 

For  nearly  twenty-four  sleepless  hours  now  she 

had  been  under  a   fierce    strain  of   conflicting 

342 


AFTER   THE    STORM 

emotions,  and  she  was  well-nigh  exhausted  by 
the  experience.  Her  eyes  were  hollow  and 
dark-ringed,  as  they  had  been  when  Hugh  had 
found  her  down  there  on  the  bayou,  but  the 
countenance  was  illumined  now,  as  it  had  not 
been  then,  by  a  joy  that  served  as  a  substitute 
for  peace  of  mind. 

Once  she  closed  her  weary  eyes  for  a  space, 
and  fell  half  asleep  in  her  chair.  Quickly  rous 
ing  herself,  she  resolutely  shook  off  the  somno 
lence,  and  after  changing  her  gown,  descended 
the  stairs  in  search  of  the  children. 

"Poor  dears,"  she  said  to  them  in  French, 
when  she  found  them  wandering  listlessly  about 
the  house-grounds.  "  Poor  dears,  you  haven't 
had  a  romp  to-day.  Come  now,  I'll  be  the  hare 
and  you  shall  play  hounds ;  see  if  you  can  catch 
me !  " 

For  half  an  hour  there  was  a  mad  frolic  all 
over  the  place,  as  one  little  game  of  romps  suc 
ceeded  another,  and  when  the  little  people  grew 
tired,  their  companion  sat  down  and  told  them 
wonderful  fairy  stories  for  the  rest  of  the  after 
noon. 

343 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

Lida  Hallam  observed  it  all. 

"At  any  rate  she  will  not  grow  morbid  or 
melancholy,"  said  that  sagacious  young  matron 
to  herself. 


344 


XXXIV 

A   GALE   ON    THE  GULF 

WHEN  John    Land     ran    away    from 
Cairo,  he  calculated  that  he  could 
catch  the    steamer   which   was  ap 
pointed   to    sail    from  New  York  on   Saturday 
morning,  "if  he  had  good  luck." 

He  did  not  have  good  luck.  All  went  well 
with  him  till  his  train  reached  Allentown  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  as  the  run  thence  to  New 
York  was  one  of  only  a  few  hours,  he  con 
gratulated  himself  upon  a  practical  certainty 
of  reaching  the  city  two  hours  before  sailing 
time.  But  presently  his  train  stopped  in  the 
midst  of  the  open  country,  and  inquiry  soon 
revealed  the  fact  that  a  freight  train  was 
wrecked  just  ahead.  There  was  a  delay  of  two 
hours,  during  which  John  Land's  impatience 
became  distressing  in  the  extreme.  All  his  old 

345 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

fears  returned.  Rukensdorff,  he  reflected,  must 
be  arriving  in  Washington  about  that  time.  He 
would  go  to  Willard's  at  once  according  to  ap 
pointment.  He  would  there  learn  that  Land 
had  given  him  the  slip,  and  he  would  at  once 
divine  his  purpose.  And  Land  must  miss  his 
ship  and  remain  in  New  York  for  a  full 
week  before  the  next  sailing  day  would  come 
around.  There  would  be  ample  time  for 
Rukensdorff  and  his  associates  to  find  him  and 
"put  the  screws  on  him,"  as  he  phrased  it  in 
his  mind. 

He  was  half  determined  to  go  to  Canada,  but 
he  knew  that  there  was  an  extradition  treaty  in 
force  between  the  United  States  and  England 
under  which  he  believed  he  could  be  arrested 
and  brought  back.  As  there  was  no  Atlantic 
cable  in  operation  in  the  spring  of  1865,  he 
would  be  safe  if  once  he  should  be  able  to  sail 
out  of  New  York  for  Liverpool.  He  would 
have  a  full  week  after  landing  in  England 
in  which  to  consult  lawyers  as  to  extradition 
treaties,  and  to  go  unmolested  to  some  country 
where  no  power  of  the  United  States  could 
346 


A   GALE   ON   THE   GULF 

reach  him.  But  for  that  freight  wreck  he 
would  have  placed  himself  beyond  the  juris 
diction  before  noon  on  that  day.  As  it  was, 
his  purpose,  so  nearly  achieved,  was  utterly 
baffled  by  the  accident. 

When  at  last  he  reached  New  York,  he  went 
to  a  quiet  hotel,  and  set  to  work  at  once  to 
discover  what  means  of  escape  there  might 
be  yet  available.  But  when  night  came,  he 
found  it  impossible  to  sleep  even  in  his  ob 
scure  hotel.  His  fearful  forebodings  came 
back.  He  knew  how  perfectly  organized  the 
government  secret  service  had  become  during 
the  war,  and  how  omnipresent  its  agents  were. 
It  was  altogether  probable,  he  thought,  that, 
upon  learning  of  the  trick  he  had  played, 
Rukensdorff  and  his  associates  would  wreak 
vengeance  by  laying  the  facts  before  the  au 
thorities  and  thus  setting  the  government  upon 
his  track.  Consciously  guilty,  and  nerveless 
coward  that  he  was,  he  passed  two  nights  in 
sleepless  agony.  On  Monday  morning  he 
hurried  to  the  shipping  district,  depositing  his 
bond  bag  in  a  bank  vault  for  temporary  safe- 

347 


A   DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

keeping.  He  learned  presently  that  a  certain 
English  steamer  was  in  the  harbor,  loading  for 
Mexico,  and  that  she  would  sail  three  days 
later. 

She  was  a  small,  underpowered  trading  ship, 

—  what  we  should  now  call  a  tramp  steamer, 

—  very  old,  very  dirty,  and  promising  to  be  ex 
tremely  uncomfortable  at  sea.     But  in  his  well- 
nigh  insane  eagerness  to  get  away,  John  Land 
put    aside   all  other  considerations.     The  wan 
dering  ship   belonged    to  no  line,  and  had  no 
agents  of  any  kind  in  the    city.     Her    captain 
was    accustomed   to  get    cargoes  wherever   he 
could  and  to  take  them  to  whatever  port   the 
shippers  desired.     So  to  the  captain  on  board 
John  Land  went.     He  was   careful  to  give  no 
name,  and  he  did  not  definitely  engage  passage. 
To  do  that,  he  thought,  might  give  a  clew  in 
the  event  that  the  secret-service  people  should 
be  looking  for  him  before  the  ship  sailed.     He 
represented    himself   as  a    business  man  with 
large   interests  in  Mexico,  which  required  his 
presence  in  that  country  at    the  earliest  pos 
sible    moment,    and     he     arranged    with    the 

348 


A    GALE    ON    THE    GULF 

captain  for  passage  if  he  could  settle  up  his 
New  York  business  by  the  time  of  sailing. 
Under  pretence  of  saving  the  last  minute,  he 
arranged  to  board  the  ship  from  a  tug  in  the 
lower  bay  as  she  should  pass  out,  the  captain 
agreeing  to  stop  his  engine  should  he  see 
Land's  tug  approaching. 

There  remained  the  three  days  of  waiting  to 
provide  for,  and  Land  knew  that  he  could  not 
sleep  in  the  city.  After  looking  about  him,  he 
hired  a  harbor  tug,  again  giving  no  name,  but 
explaining  that  he  was  tired  from  overstrain  in 
business  affairs,  and  wished  to  go  off  upon  the 
water  for  a  few  days'  rest.  As  he  made  no 
protest  against  the  extortionate  price  charged 
for  the  tug,  and  as  he  paid  for  four  days  in 
advance,  —  to  make  sure,  —  the  tug  owners  did 
not  bother  to  ask  any  questions.  Having  sent 
a  mattress,  some  bedclothes,  and  an  abundant 
supply  of  cooked  provisions  on  board,  he  se 
cured  his  precious  baggage  and  embarked. 
For  three  days  he  made  the  tug  captain  steam 
about  the  lower  bay,  anchoring  at  night  in  the 
horseshoe  at  Sandy  Hook.  On  the  third  day 

349 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

he  kept  the  tug  always  near  the  ship  channel, 
and  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  was 
gladdened  by  the  sight  of  the  steamer  slowly 
coming  toward  the  southwest  spit.  There  he 
boarded  her  and  waved  adieu  to  the  wondering 
tug  captain. 

That  officer  looked  scrutinizingly  at  the 
steamer  as  she  crawled  away  toward  the  open 
sea,  and  then  said  to  his  mate  :  — 

"That  feller  must  'a'  been  uncommon  anxious 
to  travel  in  furrin  parts.  I  don't  envy  him  his 
voyage  in  that  rickety  old  tub,  particular  if  she 
happens  to  meet  up  with  a  gale  in  the  Gulf 
Stream." 

"Nor  me,  nuther,"  answered  the  other. 
"  He's  left  his  bed  an'  beddin'  on  the  tug,  but 
I'll  bet  a  week's  wages  he  ain't  left  no  furrin 
address  behind." 

The  voyage  was  indeed  one  of  utter  wretched 
ness,  so  far  as  conditions  were  concerned.  The 
ship  had  no  passenger  accommodations  what 
ever.  John  Land  was  assigned  to  a  bunk  in 
the  captain's  little  cabin,  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  which  was  antique  dirt.  The 

350 


A   GALE   ON   THE   GULF 

food  was  such  as  sailors  on  freight  ships  eat, 
and  it  was  prepared  by  the  traditional  incompe 
tence  of  a  "sea  cook."  The  ship  reeked  with 
foul  odors,  of  which  the  smell  of  bilge-water 
and  rancid  machine  oil  were  by  no  means  the 
worst.  As  if  additionally  to  distress  the  pas 
senger,  who  had  never  been  at  sea  before,  the 
ship  ran  into  the  roughest  kind  of  March 
weather  on  the  first  day  out,  and  day  after  day 
she  labored  heavily  in  a  raging  sea. 

Nevertheless  John  Land  was  measurably 
happy.  In  spite  of  discomfort,  in  spite  of  sea 
sickness,  in  spite  even  of  his  discovery  that  the 
ship  was  dangerously  unfit  for  sea,  —  a  fact 
which  the  captain  was  at  no  trouble  to  conceal, 
-  he  had  moments  of  rejoicing  in  the  knowl 
edge  that  he  was  at  last  beyond  the  boundaries 
of  the  United  States,  and  out  of  reach  of 
any  agent  the  government  might  set  to  arrest 
him.  These  moments  became  hours  of  rejoic 
ing  as  the  ship  steamed  down  along  the  eastern 
coast  of  Florida,  for  there  the  wind  fell  and  the 
sea  forgot  its  fury.  But  soon  after  entering 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  laying  the  course  for 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

Vera  Cruz,  the  already  strained  and  leaking 
ship  encountered  a  tropical  hurricane  from  the 
southwest. 

The  tempest  blew  with  such  fury  that  every 
thing  movable  upon  the  deck  was  blown  away 
like  so  much  litter  of  rags  or  paper  or  feathers. 
Even  the  great  iron  ventilator  pipes  were 
twisted  off  at  the  deck  and  sent  flying  in  the 
air  like  kites  that  have  snapped  their  strings. 
The  officers  on  the  bridge  were  lashed  by 
ropes  to  the  stanchions,  while  the  sailors  clung 
for  dear  life  to  such  holds  as  they  could  get 
upon  guy  chains  and  the  like.  Some  of  them, 
for  lack  of  other  holds,  threw  themselves  pros 
trate  on  the  decks,  seizing  ring-bolts  or  anchor 
bars  or  whatever  else  they  could  clutch  in  a 
desperate  struggle  to  save  themselves. 

The  masts  had  gone  overboard  at  the  first 
onset  of  the  storm,  and  were  now  dragging 
alongside  by  their  guys  in  a  way  very  perilous 
to  the  ship.  Meanwhile  the  feeble  pulsations 
of  the  engine  failed  even  to  give  steerageway 
to  the  vessel,  and  presently,  as  a  receding  wave 
left  the  screw  exposed  above  water  and  re- 

352 


A   GALE    ON   THE    GULF 

leased  from  resistance,  the  engine  whirled  it 
violently,  and  the  shaft  snapped  in  two. 

The  hurricane,  properly  so  called,  lasted  for 
scarcely  more  than  half  an  hour,  but  it  was 
succeeded  by  a  steadier  and  still  tremendous 
whole  gale.  The  ship  was  a  helpless  hulk 
tossed  about  like  a  plaything  of  the  storm. 
The  steam-pumps  were  set  going,  and  for  a 
time  they  seemed  to  be  gaining  somewhat 
upon  the  water  in  the  hold,  but  at  last  the 
engineer  sent  word  to  the  captain  that  his 
boiler,  in  which  he  had  been  boiling  salt  water, 
had  burned  out  so  badly  that  he  must  instantly 
rake  out  his  fires  by  way  of  avoiding  an  explosion. 

Fortunately  the  gale  was  slowly  abating  its 
fury  as  the  sun  went  down,  and  the  captain 
ordered  all  hands,  including  his  stalwart  pas 
senger,  to  go  to  the  hand-pumps  and  labor  for 
their  lives.  All  night  long  they  toiled,  yet  the 
water  slowly  gained  upon  them.  The  captain's 
only  hope  was  that  he  might  keep  the  ship's 
deck  above  water  until  morning,  on  the  chance 
that  some  passing  ship  might  take  off  the 
imperilled  company. 

353 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    SOUTH 

In  this  he  succeeded,  and  as  the  wind  had 
continued  to  fall  during  the  night,  the  morning 
found  the  battered  and  water-logged  hulk  of  the 
steamer  slowly  settling  into  a  quiet  sea. 

Every  boat  had  been  carried  away,  and  there 
was  nothing  left  on  board  out  of  which  to  con 
struct  a  raft.  The  masts  that  had  been  dragged 
in  the  water  alongside  had  been  cut  away  as 
soon  as  that  was  possible,  lest  they  should 
punch  holes  in  the  sides  of  the  ship.  They 
had  completely  disappeared  during  the  night. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  except  con 
tinue  the  pumping  by  hand,  while  lightening 
the  ship  by  throwing  cargo  overboard.  John 
Land  pumped  himself  into  a  condition  of  utter 
exhaustion.  Strong  man  that  he  was,  his  mus 
cles  were  not  hardened  by  exercise,  but  his 
panic  fear  of  death  prompted  him  to  continue 
the  work  until  he  fell  helpless  upon  the  deck. 
He  had  all  the  time  kept  his  bond  satchel 
within  reach,  and  he  now  used  it  as  a  pillow. 

About  noon  a  steamer  came  up  from  under 
the  horizon,  and  attracted  by  the  distress  sig 
nals,  she  bore  down  upon  the  derelict.  She 

354 


A   GALE   ON   THE   GULF 

reached  the  wreck  barely  in  time  to  take  off  the 
ship's  company,  before  the  hulk,  with  a  heavy 
lurch,  went  down,  stern  foremost. 

The  rescuing  ship  was  a  Spaniard  from 
Cuba,  bound  for  New  Orleans,  and  about  mid 
night  she  entered  the  Mississippi. 


355 


XXXV 

IN   NEGOTIATION 

IT  was  in  March,  1865,  that  Hugh    Marvin 
sent    his   letter   to    Gabrielle,   telling   her 
of  his  discovery  concerning   her  brother, 
and  promising  to  make  an  effort  for  the  young 
man's  release. 

There  was  one  military  officer  of  high  rank 
in  New  Orleans  who  happened  to  be  a  near 
personal  friend  of  Hugh  Marvin.  To  him 
Hugh  —  withholding  names  of  course  —  related 
in  outline  the  story  of  Pierre,  and  explained  his 
own  desire  to  secure  the  young  man's  liberty 
on  parole. 

"  He  has  lost  a  leg,"  he  said,  "and  apart 
from  that  his  other  wounds  have  rendered 
further  military  service  on  his  part  utterly 
impossible.  And  there  is  the  further  con 
sideration  that  the  war  is  obviously  nearing  its 
356 


IN   NEGOTIATION 

end.  Grant's  stupendous  combination  will 
culminate  in  Lee's  destruction  or  surrender  as 
soon  as  the  Virginia  mud  begins  to  harden  in 
the  spring  sunshine." 

This  prophecy  was  a  very  easy  and  safe  one 
to  make  at  that  time.  Sherman  had  made 
his  march  to  the  sea,  and  after  reorganizing 
his  army  at  Savannah,  had  begun  the  further 
work  that  Grant  had  marked  out  for  him  to 
do.  He  had  started  north  with  irresistible 
energy.  He  had  compelled  the  Confederates 
to  abandon  Charleston.  He  had  captured 
Columbia,  and  a  cooperating  force  had  reduced 
Fort  Fisher,  making  a  prize  of  Wilmington. 
The  whole  Atlantic  seaboard  was  conquered, 
and  Sherman  was  steadily  pressing  forward 
through  North  Carolina,  to  strike  Lee  in  the 
rear. 

In  the  meanwhile  Grant  had  ceaselessly 
extended  his  Petersburg  lines  southward  and 
westward,  threatening  Lee  with  envelopment, 
and  compelling  him,  with  his  meagre  remnant 
of  an  army,  to  stretch  out  his  defensive  lines 
to  hopeless  attenuation. 

357 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

The  Federal  commander  was  waiting  only 
for  the  March  winds  to  dry  up  the  roads 
before  he  should  deliver  his  final  and  decisive 
blow.  He  had  only  to  hurl  a  force  against 
the  Confederate  line  at  any  point  he  might 
select,  with  an  absolute  certainty  of  breaking 
it  and  compelling  Lee  to  abandon  Richmond 
and  Petersburg  and  go  into  hopeless  retreat. 
So  much  was  evident  to  ordinary  intelligence 
without  any  aid  from  military  knowledge. 

Hugh's  military  friend,  therefore,  had  no 
hesitation  in  promising  to  aid  in  securing 
Pierre's  release,  by  using  all  the  influence  he 
possessed  with  the  higher  military  authorities, 
and  he  loyally  kept  his  promise. 

But  from  the  first  there  was  one  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way.  Hugh  admitted  that  the 
young  man  in  whom  he  was  interested  had 
escaped  from  the  prison  hospital,  and  was  now 
in  hiding.  These  were  difficult  facts  to  deal 
with,  and  with  every  persuasion  he  could  bring 
to  bear,  Hugh  could  not  induce  the  military 
authorities  to  overlook  them. 

"If  the  young  man  had  not  escaped,"  the 
358 


IN   NEGOTIATION 

Adjutant-general  explained,  "I  would  gladly 
do  something  for  him.  Indeed,  I  may  say, 
frankly,  that  if  he  were  still  a  prisoner,  I  would 
do  all  that  you  ask,  and  he  should  go  free  on 
parole.  As  it  is,  a  due  regard  for  military 
authority  and  dignity  forbids." 

Hugh  did  not  yet  despair.  He  visited  the 
Adjutant-general  frequently,  and  soon  the  two 
were  on  terms  of  personal  friendship.  One 
afternoon  Hugh  received  a  note  from  headquar 
ters  in  which  the  Adjutant-general  wrote:  — 

"  I  wish  you  would  invite  me  to  a  tete-a-tete 
supper  in  your  hotel  rooms  to-night." 

That  was  all,  but  it  was  enough.  The  in 
vitation  was  sent  at  once,  and  at  the  appointed 
hour  the  two  sat  down  together  at  table. 
There  was  a  waiter  present,  of  course,  and 
while  the  meal  lasted,  no  reference  was  made 
to  the  object  of  the  officer's  presence.  When 
the  table  was  finally  cleared  and  the  servant 
had  gone  for  good,  the  Adjutant-general 
asked  :  — 

"  Have  you  access  to  your  young  friend,  who 
ever  he  is  ? " 

359 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE    SOUTH 

"I  have  never  seen  him,"  Hugh  answered. 
"  But  I  can  communicate  with  him  whenever 
I  wish.  If  it  were  very  necessary,  I  suppose 
I  could  arrange  to  see  him." 

"  I  don't  know  that  that  will  be  necessary," 
said  the  other,  reflectively.  "  Is  he  disposed 
to  take  advice  from  you  ?  Would  he  do  what 
you  urged  him  to  do,  if  you  urged  it  very 
strongly  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  think  he  would.  Indeed,  I  am  posi 
tive  of  that." 

"Very  well.  Suppose  you  advise  him  to  sur 
render  himself  to  the  authorities  at  the  con 
valescent  hospital  to-night,  without  fail.  And, 
of  course,  you  will  tell  nobody,  not  even  the 
young  man,  that  I  have  spoken  to  you  on  the 
subject." 

"  Of  course  I  shall  say  nothing  on  that 
head,"  answered  Hugh.  "  You  are  sure  I  shall 
take  no  risk  of  going  wrong  if  I  give  him  this 
advice? " 

"Absolutely.  And  now  good  evening.  I 
have  an  appointment." 

Hugh  sent  at  once  for  Pierre's  friend,  and, 
360 


IN   NEGOTIATION 

of  course  without  telling  him  his  reasons,  urged 
him  to  induce  Pierre  to  surrender  himself  as 
advised. 

"Are  you  willing  to  take  the  responsibility 
of  urging  that  ?  "  asked  the  friend.  "  Have 
you  thought  of  what  it  will  mean  to  Pierre  to 
be  imprisoned  again  ?  You  remember  that  in 
answer  to  all  your  persuasions  and  in  spite  of 
all  the  influence  you  have  brought  to  bear  the 
military  authorities  have  peremptorily  refused 
to  parole  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,  to  all  your  questions,"  Hugh  replied. 
"  I  take  the  responsibility  of  strongly  urging 
Pierre  Latour  to  act  at  once  upon  the  advice 
I  have  given  him  through  you." 

"Will  he  be  paroled?" 

"  I  can  tell  you  no  more  than  I  have  already 
told  you.  I  advise  and  urge  him  to  surrender 
himself  to  the  hospital  authorities  to-night." 

"Very  well,"  answered  the  other.  "I  will  con 
vey  your  message  and  see  that  he  acts  upon  it. 
I  sincerely  hope  you  are  making  no  mistake." 

"  I  am  making  no  mistake,"  answered  Hugh, 
confidently. 

361 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

After  Pierre's  friend  had  left,  Hugh  Marvin 
drew  from  his  pocket  a  little  unsigned  slip  of 
paper  and  read  it  again.  The  Adjutant-general 
had  laid  it  on  a  lamp-stand  just  as  he  was  leav 
ing,  and  as  he  had  done  so  with  manifest  intent 
to  leave  it  there,  Hugh  had  read  it  before  send 
ing  for  Pierre's  friend.  It  was  in  pencil,  and 
appeared  to  be  either  a  partial  first  draught  or 
a  hastily  scribbled  and  incomplete  copy  of  a 
special  order  from  the  office  of  the  commanding 
general.  It  read  :  — 

"  In  view  of  the  overcrowded  condition  of 
the  hospitals,  and  particularly  the  hospital  in 
which  wounded  prisoners  of  war  are  confined, 
the  commanding  general  directs  that  paroles  — 

There  the  writing  stopped  abruptly,  but 
Hugh  had  no  difficulty  in  guessing  what  was 
to  follow  the  words  written.  After  reading  it 
now  for  the  second  time,  he  dropped  the  paper 
into  the  empty  grate  and  touched  a  match  to  it. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  John  Land  was 
brought  to  New  Orleans  with  the  rest  of  the 
shipwrecked  company. 


362 


XXXVI 

THE   WAY   OF  THE   TRANSGRESSOR 

WHEN  John  Land  was  put  ashore  in 
New  Orleans  from  the  rescuing 
steamer,  he  felt  himself  compara 
tively  safe,  for  a  time  at  least.  He  argued 
that  even  if  the  secret-service  men  should 
be  set  upon  his  track,  they  would  either  find 
out  nothing  about  him  or  would  learn  that  he 
had  sailed  away  on  a  steamer  bound  for  Mexico. 
In  the  latter  case,  they  would,  of  course,  pursue 
their  search  no  further,  inasmuch  as  our  gov 
ernment  had  no  diplomatic  relations  of  any  kind 
with  the  so-called  Empire  which  the  French  and 
Austrians  were  at  that  time  attempting  to  set 
up  in  Mexico,  and  no  extradition  treaty  with 
the  fugitive  republican  government  of  Juarez. 
But  while  he  felt  himself  temporarily  safe 
in  New  Orleans,  Land  was  minded  to  reach 

363 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

Mexico  in  fact  at  the  earliest  possible  date. 
He  had  another  reason  for  this  besides  his 
desire  to  place  himself  beyond  the  reach  of 
American  authority.  In  the  disturbed  state  of 
Mexico  at  that  time,  and  in  the  lawlessly  specu 
lative  spirit  that  animated  the  intruding  govern 
ment,  John  Land  foresaw  abundant  opportunity 
in  that  country  for  the  exercise  of  his  peculiar 
gift  of  getting  possession  of  other  people's 
money  in  large  sums.  Now  that  he  had  capital 
in  abundance  with  which  to  work,  he  indulged 
in  dreams  of  such  opulence  as  might  satisfy 
Avarice  itself. 

But  his  inquiries  revealed  the  fact  that  there 
was,  at  that  time,  no  commerce  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  and  no  ships  regu 
larly  sailing  from  New  Orleans  for  Vera  Cruz. 
Now  and  then  an  English  or  a  Spanish  trading 
ship  touched  at  New  Orleans  on  its  way  to  the 
Mexican  port,  and  one  such  was  expected  to  do 
so  within  ten  days  or  a  fortnight. 

There  was  nothing  for  Land  to  do,  therefore, 
but  wait  with  what  patience  he  could,  and  to 
live,  meanwhile,  in  the  obscurest  way  possible. 

364 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   TRANSGRESSOR 

After  a  day  or  two  spent  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel, 
he  sought  out  a  lodging  down  by  the  French 
market,  and  took  his  meals  in  obscure  French 
restaurants,  not  frequented  by  Americans. 

But  quietly  as  he  might  live  in  New  Orleans, 
and  seek  as  he  might  for  obscurity  there,  Pub 
licity  elsewhere  was  making  itself  a  factor  in  his 
problem  of  safety-seeking. 

When  Rukensdorff  and  Avalon  discovered 
how  he  had  given  them  the  slip,  they  rightly 
guessed  that  he  had  gone  to  New  York  to  take 
ship.  They  followed  quickly,  and  after  inquiry 
they  were  satisfied  that  he  could  not  have  sailed 
as  yet,  inasmuch  as  the  train  on  which  he  had 
travelled  had  arrived  too  late  for  the  steamer. 
They  were  convinced  that  he  was  still  in  the 
city,  and  upon  a  manufactured  pretence,  they 
instituted  a  search  for  him.  If  he  could  be 
found,  there  was  still  a  chance  of  extorting  the 
money  they  desired.  They  were  not  yet  ready, 
therefore,  to  reveal  the  facts  to  the  authorities 
at  Washington,  and  thus  to  set  the  secret-ser 
vice  men  upon  the  fugitive's  tracks. 

But  their  own  inquiries  utterly  failed  to  find 

365 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

trace  of  him  in  New  York.  They  learned  defi 
nitely  that  he  had  reached  the  city.  One  of 
their  searchers  found  the  hotel  in  which  he  had 
dwelt  during  Saturday  and  Sunday.  But  there 
all  trace  of  him  disappeared.  If  the  earth  had 
opened  and  swallowed  him,  his  vanishing  could 
not  have  been  more  complete. 

The  two  continued  the  search,  however,  for 
a  day  or  two  longer.  Then  giving  it  up  they 
went  back  to  the  capital  baffled,  angry,  and 
determined  upon  revenge.  They  were  sure 
that  Land  could  not  have  left  the  country,  and 
that  if  the  facts  were  laid  before  the  executive 
authorities,  the  government  would  know  how  to 
find  the  fugitive. 

They  had  two  new  partners  now  in  the  per 
sons  of  the  two  inspecting  officers  who  had 
winked  at  John  Land's  practices  for  a  price. 
These  men,  too,  had  become  alarmed  by  the 
threat  of  a  congressional  inquiry,  and  in  a  des 
perate  effort  to  save  themselves  they  had  sought 
out  Avalon  and  agreed  with  him  to  become 
witnesses  against  Land,  upon  his  assurance 
of  protection  for  themselves. 
366 


THE   WAY    OF   THE    TRANSGRESSOR 

It  was  certain,  Avalon  and  Rukensdorff 
thought,  that  their  victim  had  not  yet  escaped 
from  the  country,  but  it  was  equally  certain 
that  he  would  do  so  at  the  first  opportu 
nity.  There  was,  therefore,  no  time  to  lose. 
On  their  arrival  in  Washington,  Avalon  went  at 
once  to  the  executive  officers  and  told  the  story 
of  Land's  peculations  and  of  his  flight  in  fear 
of  the  congressional  investigation  threatened  by 
Avalon's  resolution.  He  explained  that  in  view 
of  the  culprit's  evident  purpose  to  escape  from 
the  country  it  would  not  do  to  wait  for  a  slow 
congressional  inquiry  before  making  an  arrest. 
He  also  explained  that  since  offering  his  resolu 
tion  of  inquiry,  he  had  found  two  witnesses 
whose  testimony  would  be  ample  and  con 
clusive. 

Immediately  secret-service  agents  were  set  at 
work  to  find  the  fugitive.  They  began  their 
work  in  New  York,  but  were  completely  baffled 
there.  That  Land  was  not  in  the  city,  they 
were  sure.  That  he  had  not  escaped  by  sea, 
they  were  equally  confident.  No  shipping 
office  furnished  the  record  of  any  outgoing 

367 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

passenger  whose  identity  was  not  capable  of 
full  establishment,  and  even  the  records  of  per 
sons  passing  into  Canada  —  records  that  were 
at  that  time  very  carefully  kept  —  offered  no 
clew. 

But  one  morning  there  appeared  in  the 
New  York  Herald's  marine  news  columns,  an 
obscure  little  despatch  from  New  Orleans, 
saying :  — 

"  The  Spanish  steamer  El  Cid  arrived  Wednesday, 
from  Havana,  bringing  the  crew  of  the  British  steamer 
Devon,  wrecked  in  the  Gulf.  There  was  one  pas 
senger  among  the  company,  John  Land,  of  Cairo, 
Illinois." 

Instantly  the  secret-service  people  sent  tele 
grams  to  other  secret-service  men  in  Cairo  and 
New  Orleans,  and  in  all  the  river  towns  be 
tween,  asking  for  Land's  arrest. 

Of  course  the  search  was  kept  profoundly 
secret.  In  New  Orleans  the  fact  that  John 
Land  was  "  wanted "  was  known  only  to  the 
secret-service  agents  and  to  the  higher  mili 
tary  authorities,  and  for  a  time  the  search  was 
unsuccessful.  The  searchers  discovered  at  the 
368 


THE   WAY   OF   THE    TRANSGRESSOR 

beginning  that  Hugh  Marvin,  who  was  living 
at  the  St.  Charles  and  going  about  freely, 
was  a  resident  of  Cairo,  and  so  they  placed 
him  under  "observation,"  in  ways  that  did 
not  attract  his  attention.  They  had  begun  by 
satisfying  themselves  of  his  character  and 
standing,  but  they  thought  it  likely  that  as  he 
and  John  Land  lived  in  the  same  rather  small 
town,  they  would  be  acquainted  with  each  other, 
and  that  as  both  were  in  New  Orleans  they 
would  seek  each  other  out  for  company's  sake. 

One  morning  Hugh  Marvin  went  down  early 
to  the  French  market  for  one  of  the  famous 
breakfasts  that  were  served  there,  and  that 
every  American  visitor  to  the  city  was  expected 
to  indulge  in  occasionally.  Coffee  and  pan 
cakes  were  specialties  of  these  breakfasts,  and 
they  were  served,  not  in  restaurants  or  at 
table,  but  at  the  market  stands,  before  which 
the  visitors  sat  on  low  stools,  and  saw  their 
breakfasts  prepared  on  the  other  side  of  the 
narrow  bench-like  stand. 

As  Marvin  seated  himself,  a  pleasant-looking 
stranger,  whose  face  he  remembered  having 

369 


A   DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

seen  at  various  places  in  New  Orleans,  took 
the  stool  next  to  him,  and  entered  into  a  con 
versation  of  that  easy,  casual  kind  which  is 
common  where  two  gentlemen  meet  in  a  public 
place  for  a  common  purpose.  They  spoke  of 
the  special  excellence  of  French  market  coffee, 
and  of  the  strangely  foreign  character  of  French 
market  customs,  and  of  other  such  things.  The 
breakfast  stands  were  pretty  well  filled  at 
the  time,  but  there  was  one  vacant  stool  next 
to  Hugh  Marvin's,  and  presently  some  one 
approached  it  as  if  to  occupy  it.  Marvin  moved 
his  own  stool  a  trifle  to  make  room  for  the  new 
comer,  but  as  he  did  so  the  man  seemed  to 
change  his  mind,  turning  to  go  away  in  search 
of  a  stool  elsewhere.  Hugh  looked  up,  think 
ing  that  he  had  possibly  failed  in  courtesy.  To 
his  astonishment  he  recognized  the  retreating 
form,  and  instantly  ejaculated:  — 

"By  Jove,  it's  John  Land!" 

"Some  acquaintance  of  yours?"  asked  the 
man  at  his  elbow. 

"Yes,  and  no.  I  know  him,"  answered 
Marvin ;  "  but  the  last  time  we  met  I  felt  it 

370 


THE    WAY    OF   THE    TRANSGRESSOR 

necessary  to  throw  all  the  inkstands  in  my 
office  at  his  head.  That's  why  he  didn't  take 
the  stool." 

As  he  finished  speaking,  the  other  quitted 
his  half-eaten  breakfast,  tossed  at  least  twice 
its  cost  to  the  attendant,  and  hurried  away  in 
a  fashion  that  aroused  Hugh  Marvin's  curi 
osity.  Looking,  he  saw  his  companion  of  a 
minute  before  pass  rapidly  down  the  line  of 
breakfast  stands  to  the  one  at  which  Land 
had  found  a  seat.  Meanwhile  two  soldiers, 
carrying  their  guns  with  bayonets  fixed,  came 
out  of  the  crowd,  as  if  in  response  to  some 
signal,  and  joined  him.  He  placed  his  hand 
on  Land's  shoulder,  and  said  simply  :  — 

"  Come  with  me." 

Then  bidding  the  two  soldiers  take  charge 
of  the  prisoner,  the  secret-service  officer  led 
the  way  to  the  stand  at  which  Hugh  Marvin 
sat,  and,  using  his  name  as  freely  as  an  ac 
quaintance  might  have  done,  he  offered  his 
card,  saying  :  — 

"  When  you  finish  your  breakfast,  Mr.  Mar 
vin,  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  go  with  me  to 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE    SOUTH 

headquarters  to  identify  this  man.  Or,  if  you'd 
prefer  to  go  by  yourself,  you  can  join  me  at 
headquarters  within  half  an  hour.  Your  prom 
ise  to  come  will  be  sufficient,  and  as  a  crowd 
has  gathered,  it  will  doubtless  be  pleasanter  for 
you  to  go  alone." 

"  Am  I  required  to  do  this  ? "  asked  Hugh, 
adding,  "  because  otherwise  I'd  rather  not  ap 
pear  in  the  matter  at  all.  The  man  and  I 
have  quarrelled.  I  don't  like  even  to  seem 
vindictive." 

"You  have  no  choice,  Mr.  Marvin,  and  cer 
tainly  you  are  in  no  way  responsible  for  this 
arrest.  You  are  wanted  merely  as  a  witness  to 
the  man's  identity." 

Hugh  promised  to  follow  in  a  fly,  and  did 
so.  An  hour  later  John  Land  was  taken  to  a 
military  prison  and  his  baggage,  including  his 
satchel  of  plunder,  was  seized. 

At  the  prison  he  was  carefully  searched  for 
weapons  and  papers,  after  which  he  was  ushered 
into  a  cell.  There  he  alternately  paced  the 
narrow  floor  and  sat  moodily  on  the  side  of 
the  bench  that  was  to  serve  as  his  only  bed. 

372 


On  the  morrow,  as  he  had  been  informed,  he 
would  be  taken  on  board  a  steamboat  for  a 
journey  North,  where  he  would  be  put  upon  his 
trial.  He  knew  what  the  result  of  the  trial 
must  be. 

After  nightfall  the  solid  iron  door  outside  the 
grating  of  his  cell  was  closed,  and  the  view  of  the 
sentry  in  the  corridor  was  cut  off.  Then  John 
Land  removed  his  trousers,  and,  with  his  teeth, 
made  a  hole  in  the  hem  at  the  bottom  of  one 
leg.  Through  it  he  removed  a  little  bag  made 
of  thin  rubber  cloth,  from  which  he  took  three 
little  pellets,  scarcely  larger  than  pinheads,  and 
swallowed  them.  Ten  seconds  later  every  mus 
cle  in  his  body  became  as  rigid  as  steel,  and  he 
fell  back  upon  the  bench,  —  stark,  stiff,  dead. 


373 


XXXVII 

A   SOLDIER'S   HONOR 

TWO  days  after  Pierre  Latour's  surren 
der   of   himself    at    the   convalescent 
hospital  prison,  the  order  was  issued 
of   which  Hugh  Marvin  had   got   a  hint   from 
the   scrap  of   paper   left    in    his   room   by   the 
Ad  j  utant-general. 

In  execution  of  General  Grant's  comprehen 
sive  plan  for  crushing  what  was  left  of  Con 
federate  strength,  the  troops  in  New  Orleans 
were  ordered  to  move  against  Mobile,  cooperat 
ing  with  other  forces  that  were  to  assail  that 
city  by  way  of  preventing  the  Confederates 
from  sending  reinforcements  from  Mobile  either 
to  Lee  in  Virginia  or  Johnston  in  the  Carolinas. 
It  was  Grant's  plan  and  purpose  so  to  employ 
all  the  Union  forces  not  directly  with  him  or 
Sherman  as  to  occupy  all  the  Confederates  at 

374 


A    SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

every  point  from  which  otherwise  Lee  might 
draw  assistance. 

The  commander  at  New  Orleans  anticipated 
the  coming  of  Jarge  numbers  of  wounded  men 
to  that  city  in  the  course  of  these  final  opera 
tions  of  the  war,  and  by  way  of  making  room 
for  them  in  the  hospitals  he  ordered  that  every 
Union  soldier  sufficiently  convalescent  to  be 
removed  should  be  sent  North  on  hospital 
steamers,  and  that  such  of  the  convalescent 
Confederate  prisoners  as  had  friends  to  care 
for  them  should  be  paroled.  As  Pierre  had 
surrendered  himself  two  days  before  the  order 
was  issued,  thus  becoming  again  a  wounded 
Confederate  prisoner,  he  was  included  in  the 
list  of  those  released  on  parole. 

His  first  act  upon  being  released  was  to 
visit  Hugh  Marvin  in  his  hotel  room,  and  there, 
for  the  first  time,  Hugh  met  the  young  man 
in  person. 

In  spite  of  his  long  confinement  in  hospital, 
and  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  wounds 
he  had  suffered,  Pierre  still  had  much  of  the 
bronze  in  his  face  which  he  had  acquired  by 

375 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

long  exposure  as  a  soldier  in  a  fighting  regi 
ment.  But  underneath  the  bronze  and  the 
ruggedness  of  the  weather-beaten  face,  Hugh 
quickly  discovered  what  he  regarded  as  a  strong 
resemblance  between  the  young  man  and  his 
sister.  The  contour  of  the  face  was  the  same,  if 
allowance  were  made  for  the  difference  of  age  and 
sex.  There  was  the  same  combination  of  resolu 
tion  and  mobility  in  the  lines  around  the  mouth. 
Above  all,  the  eyes  were  like  hers,  as  Hugh 
remembered  them  at  the  time  of  his  first  meet 
ing  with  her  on  the  bank  of  the  bayou.  Hugh 
looked  long  at  him  after  the  first  greetings  were 
over,  and  he  found  it  easy  to  imagine  this  young 
man  handing  the  creese  to  his  sister  with  in 
junctions  to  use  it  if  necessity  should  come. 
For  there  was  a  strength  in  Pierre  Latour's 
delicately  moulded,  but  strongly  lined  face, 
which  might  hesitate  at  nothing  in  pursuit  of 
any  rightful  purpose. 

The  two  became  friends  almost  in  the  instant 
of  their  meeting.  Hugh  was  strongly  drawn 
toward  Pierre  by  his  resemblance  to  Gabrielle, 
and  by  his  own  personality  as  revealed  in  his 

376 


A   SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

face  and  voice  and  manner.  Pierre  was  filled 
with  affectionate  gratitude  toward  Hugh,  not 
only  or  chiefly  because  of  his  activity  in  seek 
ing  his  own  release,  but  still  more  because  of  his 
rescue  of  Gabrielle,  and  because  of  the  tender 
care  he  had  given  to  her  in  her  time  of  need. 

"  I  want  to  come  to  you  again,  if  I  may,"  said 
the  young  man,  eagerly,  "and  ask  you  to  tell  me 
all  you  can  about  my  sister,  —  my  Gabrielle.  It 
was  you  who  saved  her,  you  who  brought  her 
back  to  life  again  after  I  had  given  her  up  as 
dead.  I  want  to  hear  the  whole  story,  every 
detail  of  it.  May  I  not  come  to  you  soon  to 
hear  it  all  ?  " 

There  was  a  note  of  pleading  in  the  voice,  that 
touched  Hugh  very  tenderly.  He  answered  at 
once  :  — 

"You  shall  stay  here  with  me  while  I  remain 
in  New  Orleans,  — it  will  be  for  a  very  few  days 
now,  as  I  am  to  go  up  the  river  on  the  first 
steamboat  that  leaves.  I  have  a  spare  bedroom 
in  there,  and  I  want  to  talk  with  you.  I'm 
going  out  presently  to  be  gone  for  an  hour  or 
two.  You  are  weak  still,  and  weary  from  the 

377 


A    DAUGHTER    OF    THE   SOUTH 

excitement  of  release.  You  must  try  to  sleep 
while  I  am  gone.  If  you  wake  before  I 
return,  you  are  to  ring  for  a  servant  and  order 
whatever  you  want  to  eat.  Get  all  the  rest  and 
sleep  you  can,  as  we  two  will  probably  talk 
rather  late  to-night,  at  least  as  lateness  is  reck 
oned  in  the  case  of  a  convalescent.  I'll  send 
word  to  your  friend  that  I'm  going  to  keep  you 
as  long  as  I  remain  here." 

He  bade  the  youth  adieu  and  went  his  way. 
He  did  not  tell  him  the  purpose  of  his  going, 
lest  the  knowledge  of  it  should  prevent  his 
sleeping.  But  it  was  in  Pierre's  behalf  that  he 
went  at  once  to  military  headquarters.  There 
he  found  everything  in  confusion,  preparatory  to 
that  taking  of  the  field  which  had  been  ordered. 
But  the  Adjutant-general  and  Hugh  Marvin  had 
become  rather  intimate  friends  by  this  time, 
and,  busy  as  he  was,  the  officer  ordered  the 
young  man  admitted. 

With  that  promptitude  and  directness  which 
Hugh  was  accustomed  to  practise  in  all  business 
affairs,  he  came  to  the  point  at  once. 

"  Now  that  my  young  friend,  Pierre  Latour, 

378 


A    SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

has  been  released  upon  parole,"  he  said,  "  I 
want  to  take  him  with  me  to  Cairo,  where  his 
sister  is.  I  have  come  to  ask  for  a  passport  for 
him." 

The  officer  shook  his  head. 

"  I'm  afraid  that  cannot  be  arranged,"  he 
answered.  "  The  paroles  to  wounded  Confed 
erates,  you  know,  expressly  limit  their  move 
ments.  They  were  issued  upon  the  distinct 
promise  of  those  to  whom  they  were  given,  to 
remain  within  certain  bounds  set  forth  in  each 
case  until  exchanged  or  otherwise  released. 
In  young  Latour's  case,  the  requirement  is  that 
he  shall  remain  within  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 
You  will  readily  see  the  necessity  for  this.  So 
long  as  these  men  are  within  our  lines  we  must 
keep  them  under  a  species  of  surveillance." 

"But  he  is  so  manifestly  unfit  for  any  pos 
sible  military  service,"  answered  Hugh,  "  and  I 
am  ready  to  make  myself  personally  responsible 
for  him.  It  would  only  be  a  change  of  the 
locality  to  which  he  is  limited  —  the  substitu 
tion  of  Cairo  for  New  Orleans." 

"  It  cannot  be,"  the  officer  said  firmly.    Then 

379 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

as  if  suddenly  thinking  of  a  way  out,  he 
added  :  — 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do,  Marvin.  Get  the 
young  man  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
Then  he  will  be  free  to  go  anywhere  he  pleases. 
He  can't  do  any  more  service  in  any  case,  and 
this  war  is  so  manifestly  on  its  last  legs  there 
is  no  reason  why  he  shouldn't  recognize  the 
fact  and  accept  the  result." 

"  I'll  suggest  that  course  to  him,  and  as 
you  obviously  need  every  moment  of  your  time 
just  now,  I'll  bid  you  good  morning,  with  my 
sincerest  thanks  for  all  your  kindness." 

"  It  must  be  '  good-by '  as  well  as  '  good  morn 
ing,' "  said  the  Adjutant-general.  "We  shall 
be  away  from  here  within  a  few  hours,  and  I'm 
not  likely  to  see  you  again." 

"I  hope  for  better  luck  than  that,"  said 
Hugh.  "  A  few  weeks  will  end  this  thing,  and 
I  suppose  you  will  return  to  civil  life.  In  that 
case  —  we'll  try  to  meet  again." 

With  that  Hugh  bowed  himself  out,  and  re 
turned  to  the  hotel  full  of  hope  that  Pierre 
would  accept  the  suggestion  made  and  act  upon 
380 


A   SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

it.  He  was  prepared  to  encounter  some  reluc 
tance  on  Pierre's  part,  knowing  as  he  did  how 
resolutely  every  Confederate  soldier  clung  to 
his  Southern  allegiance.  But  the  objection, 
Hugh  thought,  would  be  purely  sentimental,  and 
he  felt  assured  of  his  success  in  overcoming  it. 
He  could  see  no  reason,  as  circumstances  then 
existed,  for  a  persistent  refusal  on  Pierre's  part 
to  accept  complete  liberty  and  restoration  to 
citizenship  on  terms  so  easy  and  which  seemed 
to  him  so  entirely  reasonable  also. 

On  his  arrival  at  the  hotel  he  found  his  guest 
greatly  refreshed  by  sleep  and  by  a  bath,  and 
as  it  was  now  four  o'clock,  the  usual  dinner 
hour  in  New  Orleans  at  that  time,  he  immedi 
ately  ordered  dinner  served  in  his  rooms. 

When  the  meal  was  quite  at  an  end,  he  intro 
duced  the  subject  that  was  uppermost  in  his 
mind.  He  did  so  gently  and  guardedly. 

"  I've  been  busying  myself  in  your  behalf, 
Latour,"  he  said  by  way  of  beginning. 

"  It  seems  to  me  your  friendship  is  always 
doing  that,"  said  Pierre.  "  I  wonder  if  I  shall 
ever  have  a  chance  to  show  you  how  deeply 
381 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

grateful  I  feel.  But  what  have  you  been  doing 
this  time?" 

"  I  have  been  trying  —  rather  unsuccessfully 
I  fear  —  to  secure  permission  to  make  you  my 
prisoner  and  take  you  with  me  to  Cairo  to  join 
your  sister." 

He  waited  for  Pierre's  reply,  but  it  did  not 
come  in  words,  for  a  time.  The  young  Confed 
erate  looked  wistfully  into  his  host's  face  with 
eyes  that  revealed  more  of  gratitude  than  any 
words  could  have  done.  Then  he  rose,  balanc 
ing  himself  upon  his  one  foot  by  resting  upon 
the  table,  and  grasped  Hugh  Marvin's  hand. 
After  a  time  he  choked  out  the  words,  "  Thank 
you  from  my  heart,  whether  you  succeeded  or 
not  ! " 

Hugh  saw  clearly  that  no  such  thought  as 
this  had  before  arisen  in  Pierre's  mind,  that  he 
had  not  even  dreamed  of  the  possibility  of  his 
going  now  to  rejoin  the  sister  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  years.  He  saw,  too,  that  the  sug 
gestion  had  awakened  a  great  longing  in  Pierre's 
soul  to  do  this  thing.  That  was  what  Hugh 
had  intended.  He  reckoned  upon  it  as  a  help 
382 


A   SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

in  persuading  Pierre  to  accept  the  suggestion 
he  was  presently  to  make.  By  way  of  strength 
ening  it  he  added  :  — 

"  Yes,  I've  been  planning  that  ever  since  I 
learned  that  you  were  likely  to  be  paroled. 
And  as  there  is  a  steamboat  at  the  levee  which 
will  leave  for  Cairo  and  St.  Louis  to-morrow 
evening,  I  have  been  hoping  we  might  get  away 
on  her.  But—" 

"  The  passport  was  refused  ? "  asked  Pierre, 
interrupting.  "I  can  readily  understand  that." 

"  It  is  not  absolutely  refused,"  Hugh  replied, 
choosing  his  words  carefully.  "  At  least  in  re 
fusing  it  the  Adjutant-general  was  good  enough 
to  point  out  a  way  in  which  the  main  purpose 
may  be  accomplished,  perhaps." 

"Tell  me!" 

"Well,  he  points  out  that  the  war  is  almost 
over,  and  that  there  can  no  longer  be  any  possi 
ble  doubt  as  to  what  the  end  will  be.  Lee's 
army  is  exhausted  and  reduced  so  greatly  in 
numbers  that  it  must  be  crushed  the  moment 
Grant  assails  it,  which  he  will  do  as  soon  as 
the  roads  grow  a  little  harder.  It  is  not  only 

383 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

that.  Sherman's  operations  have  completely 
overrun  the  country  south  of  Virginia,  so  that 
Lee  no  longer  has  a  single  source  of  supply  to 
draw  upon,  or  a  communication  that  is  not 
hopelessly  cut  —  " 

"  Wait !  "  said  Pierre.  "  I  see  clearly  what 
the  Adjutant-general's  proposal  is,  and  I  don't 
want  that  suggestion  to  come  to  me  from  you, 
my  friend,  or  through  you."  The  young  man 
hobbled  about  the  room  for  a  time  in  painfully 
manifest  perturbation  of  spirit.  After  a  while 
he  came  back  to  his  place,  took  Hugh's  hand 
warmly  in  his  own,  and  said  :  — 

"  Let  me  explain.  The  proposal  made  by 
the  Adjutant-general  is  in  the  highest  degree 
insulting  to  me  as  a  man.  It  is  a  proposal  of 
dishonor,  treachery,  cowardice, — desertion  it 
self.  He  knows  all  that,  though  you  do  not. 
You  have  never  been  a  soldier,  and  you  have 
had  no  occasion  to  think  of  such  things.  You 
have  not  understood  the  soldier's  point  of  view, 
but  you  will  when  I  explain,  and  you  will  sym 
pathize  with  it.  I  quite  understand  that  the 
war  is  nearing  its  end.  A  few  weeks  more  will 

384 


finish  it  by  completely  destroying  the  power  of 
the  South  to  fight.  But  what  difference  does 
that  make  in  my  duty  ?  I  am  still  a  Confed 
erate  soldier,  and  I  must  remain  such  until  the 
government  I  have  sworn  to  serve  shall  be 
itself  destroyed.  Nothing  less  than  that  can 
absolve  me  from  my  soldierly  obligations.  For 
me  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  now,  would  be 
for  me  to  desert  to  the  enemy.  It  would  dis 
grace  me  forever  in  the  eyes  of  all  honorable 
men,  and  especially  in  my  own  eyes.  Even 
after  the  end  shall  have  come,  I  could  never 
hope  for  restoration  to  the  ranks  of  honorable 
men.  Soldiers  of  the  North,  equally  with  sol 
diers  of  the  South,  would  hold  me  in  contempt 
and  abhorrence,  as  one  who,  having  taken  ser 
vice  with  one  side,  deserted  to  the  other  for  his 
own  advantage.  And  that  is  not  all.  When 
this  war  ends,  it  will  be  for  the  United  States 
government  to  determine  what  it  will  do  with 
us  who  have  fought  against  it.  It  may  decree 
punishment  for  us,  confiscation,  disfranchise- 
ment,  even  banishment.  If  I  should  take  the 
oath  now,  I  should  escape  my  share  in  all  that. 

385 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

I  should  be  restored  to  citizenship,  and  thus 
cheat  the  United  States  government  of  its 
privilege  of  subjecting  me  to  my  share  of  what 
ever  pains  and  penalties  it  may  see  fit  to  impose. 
No,  no,  no !  I  could  no  more  think  of  taking 
that  oath  until  the  war  is  completely  ended  and 
the  Confederate  government  utterly  overthrown 
and  destroyed  than  I  could  have  consented  to 
desert  to  the  enemy  at  Chancellorsville  or  Get 
tysburg.  Do  you  not  understand  ? " 

"I  understand,"  answered  Hugh;  "and  now 
that  I  do  understand,  I  am  in  full  sympathy 
with  your  view.  I  had  not  thought  of  the  mat 
ter  in  that  way.  You  must  forgive  me." 

"There  is  nothing  to  forgive.  You  were 
altogether  right  from  your  point  of  view,  and 
of  course  you  had  never  had  occasion  to  think 
of  the  matter  as  it  presents  itself  to  my  mind. 
Now  let  us  talk  of  other  things.  You  must 
sail  by  the  steamboat  that  is  to  leave  to-morrow 
evening.  You  have  generously  sacrificed  much 
of  your  time  to  my  interests  and  Gabrielle's. 
I  am  fairly  steady  in  my  nerves  now,  and  I 
find  I  can  write  if  I  try  hard  for  self-control. 
386 


A   SOLDIER'S    HONOR 

I  experimented  a  little  before  you  came  in.  I 
shall  write  a  letter  to  Gabrielle  which  I'll  ask 
you  to  carry.  I  think,  if  I  may,  I'll  lie  down 
now  and  rest.  I  am  very  tired  and  very  happy. 
I  owe  all  the  happiness  to  you,  and  I  want  to 
tell  Gabrielle  of  that." 


387 


XXXVIII 

THE   WAY  OF  A  MAN  WITH   A  MAID 

IT  was  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the 
4th  of  April,  1865,  when  the  steamboat, 
on  which  Hugh  Marvin  was  a  passenger, 
landed   at   Cairo.     She  had   left   New  Orleans 
four  days  before,  and  had  made  no  stops,  except 
here  and  there  in  the  woods  to  take  fresh  sup 
plies  of  fuel  on  board,  so  that  Hugh  had  heard 
nothing  of  the  tremendous  news  which  greeted 
him  as  he  stepped  from  the  steamer  to  the  deck 
of  his  own  wharf-boat. 

He  was  not  expected,  of  course,  as  there  was 
no  telegraphic  communication  between  New 
Orleans  and  Cairo,  and  therefore  the  boat's 
coming  had  not  been  heralded ;  but  when  he 
landed  he  was  greeted  by  two  of  his  shipping 
clerks  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  the  incoming 
of  every  steamboat  for  purposes  of  business. 
388 


THE  WAY  OF  A   MAN  WITH   A   MAID 

They  gave  him  the  news  in  crisp,  short 
sentences. 

"  Grant  has  broken  through  the  rebel  lines 
at  Petersburg.  Richmond  has  fallen.  Lee  is 
in  full  retreat  with  Grant  pursuing.  Surrender 
is  expected  at  any  hour  now." 

What  impression  the  news  made  upon  Mar 
vin  the  clerks  could  not  guess.  His  manner 
was  quite  impassive.  His  only  reply  was  in 
the  shape  of  a  question  concerning  a  quite 
unrelated  matter. 

"  What  freight  have  we  ready  for  shipment 
south  ? " 

The  clerk  rattled  off  a  list  of  the  pork,  hay, 
grain,  etc.,  that  lay  in  the  warehouse  or  in  cars 
upon  the  railroad  track. 

"Very  well,  ship  it  all  by  this  boat.  I've 
arranged  with  the  captain  to  turn  her  back 
from  here.  She  has  next  to  nothing  in  the 
way  of  freight  for  St.  Louis.  Let  her  unload 
it  on  the  wharf-boat,  and  tell  Mr.  Bofinger  that 
we  are  to  send  it  on  without  charge  for  for 
warding." 

Having  thus  given  his  orders,  Hugh   Marvin 

389 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

went  at  once  to  the  livery-stable  where  his 
horses  were  kept,  and,  mounting,  set  out  for 
the  Hallam  house.  He  had  probably  anticipated 
the  war  news,  —  "  discounted  "  it,  as  the  men 
of  finance  say,  —  and  he  wanted  to  lose  no  time 
before  seeing  Gabrielle.  He  had  Pierre's  letter 
to  deliver,  and  of  course —  At  any  rate  he 
went  at  a  gallop  to  the  Hallam  house. 

After  his  custom,  he  entered  without  knock 
ing,  and  passed  through  the  parlor  into  the 
library.  There  he  found  Gabrielle  sitting  be 
fore  the  fire  — for  the  evening  was  cool  — 
holding  a  book  in  her  hand,  which  she  was  not 
reading. 

She  rose  quickly  as  he  entered,  and,  seeing 
who  it  was,  she  started  forward  with  a  little 
look  of  eager  gladness  in  her  face.  Instantly 
she  checked  the  impulse.  This  was  not  the 
way  in  which  she  had  planned  to  meet  Hugh 
Marvin  when  he  should  return.  She  had  care 
fully  thought  out  her  course  of  conduct  for  that 
occasion.  She  had  planned  the  scene  with 
great  particularity  as  to  details,  and  she  had 
fully  rehearsed  it  in  her  own  mind,  till  she  felt 

39° 


THE  WAY  OF  A  MAN  WITH  A  MAID 

herself  letter-perfect  in  her  lines,  as  the  player 
folk  say.  But  as  usual  in  such  cases,  the  scene 
did  not  arrange  itself  in  the  way  her  imagination 
had  created  it.  She  had  not  expected  Hugh  to 
come  in  this  way,  in  the  evening  and  unheralded. 
She  had  not  expected  to  be  thus  taken  by 
surprise.  Moreover,  in  her  surprise,  she  had 
forgotten  her  part  at  the  very  beginning,  and 
had,  she  felt,  spoiled  all  by  putting  emotion 
into  her  look  and  manner. 

In  her  effort  to  recover  from  that  mistake, 
she  assumed  a  hauteur  which  she  had  not 
intended,  .and  thus  additionally  made  a  mess 
of  her  carefully  constructed  plans.  It  had 
been  her  purpose  to  combine  dignity  and  re 
serve  with  a  grateful  recognition  of  the  young 
man's  many  kindnesses  to  her,  giving  due  pro 
portion  to  each.  In  the  event  she  had  for 
gotten  reserve  at  first  and  then  had  suddenly 
assumed  too  much  of  it.  As  a  result  she  was 
about  as  uncomfortable  a  young  woman  as  one 
often  sees,  and  her  consciousness  that  Hugh 
Marvin  was  an  understanding  witness  of  her 
discomfort  was  an  additional  source  of  embar- 

39 J 


A    DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

rassment.  Having  failed  to  give  him  the  care 
fully  planned  greeting  which  she  had  intended, 
she  gave  him  no  greeting  at  all.  Instead,  she 
broke  at  once  into  an  explanation  for  which 
Hugh  had  not  asked. 

"I'm  alone,  you  see,"  she  began.  "There's 
a  performance  at  the  Atheneum  to-night  — • 
some  Swiss  bell-ringers  I  believe  —  and  Lida 
and  Captain  Will  have  gone  to  attend  it. 
Naturally  I  didn't  want  to  go.  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  be  glad  of  the  war  news,  but  it  sad 
dens  me  to  think  of —  Anyhow  I  didn't  feel 
like  going,  and  now  the  children  have  gone  to 
bed." 

Hugh  Marvin  thought  he  understood  the 
girl's  embarrassment,  in  the  which  belief  he 
was  utterly  mistaken.  He  did  not  know  or 
dream  that  Gabrielle  had  learned  the  truth 
about  his  little  transaction  in  cotton  a  year 
before.  He  attributed  her  present  state  of 
mind  to  a  totally  different  cause. 

"  She  has  understood  the  suggestions  I  have 
given  her,"  he  rejoicingly  thought,  "and  very 
naturally  she  is  agitated  and  embarrassed  now 

392 


THE  WAY  OF  A  MAN  WITH  A  MAID 

that  I  have  come  upon  her  so  suddenly  with 
nobody  else  present." 

Instantly  he  acted  upon  this  mistaken  inter 
pretation,  doing  so  with  that  reckless  impulsive 
ness  that  was  always  his  master  when  strong 
emotion  was  dominant  in  his  mind.  Just  as  he 
had  impulsively  pitched  Ezra  Brass  into  the 
river,  and  just  as  he  had  hurled  inkstands  at 
John  Land's  head,  so  now  he  proceeded  to  bring 
matters  to  a  crisis  with  Gabrielle.  He  threw 
his  arms  about  her,  drew  her  to  him,  and  pas 
sionately  kissed  her. 

"At  last  I  am  with  you  again,  Gabrielle," 
he  said,  "and  I  have  come  to  claim  you  as 
altogether  my  own.  Say  that  you  love  me, 
Gabrielle ! " 

She  did  not  say  that  or  anything  else  for  a 
time,  but  none  the  less  Hugh  Marvin  had  his 
answer.  For  she  did  not  struggle  for  release 
from  his  grasp,  and  she  let  her  head  rest  pas 
sively  on  his  shoulder  with  her  face  close  to  his. 

Half  an  hour  later  these  two  sat  side  by 
side  in  low-toned  converse. 

393 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  let  things  happen  this 
way,  Hugh,"  said  Gabrielle,  blushingly.  "  It 
is  a  terrible  sacrifice  of  my  pride  and  dignity, 
you  know." 

"  No,  I  don't.  I  don't  think  I  quite  under 
stand." 

"  Of  course  you  don't.  But  you  see  I  have 
a  little  quarrel  to  settle  with  you  and  a  busi 
ness  matter  to  adjust.  I  ought  to  have  cleared 
those  things  away,  before  —  well,  I  ought  to 
have  settled  them  first." 

"  May  I  ask  what  the  nature  of  these  terrible 
affairs  may  happen  to  be  ? "  he  asked  lightly. 

"Don't  jest,  Hugh.  They  have  been  very 
serious  to  me." 

Then  she  told  him  all  that  she  had  learned  and 
all  that  she  had  suffered.  When  she  told  him  of 
John  Land's  agency  in  the  matter,  he  flushed 
with  anger  and  was  about  to  indulge  his  anger 
in  speech.  But  restraining  himself  he  said:  — 

"John  Land  has  gone  before  a  higher  tri 
bunal.  He  is  dead  now." 

"But  why  did  you  do  that,  Hugh?  —  that 
about  the  cotton,  you  know." 

394 


THE  WAY  OF  A  MAN  WITH  A  MAID 

"  The  answer  is  easy  enough.  I  did  it 
because  I  loved  you,  Gabrielle,  and  there  was 
no  other  way  in  which  to  provide  for  you." 

"  But  you  couldn't  have  loved  me  then.  You 
had  known  me  for  only  a  few  days." 

"  Just  how  long  does  it  take  for  a  man's  love 
for  a  woman  to  grow,  Gabrielle  ? " 

"  I  don't  know.     How  should  I  ?  " 

"  Neither  do  I.  But  I  know  now,  and  perhaps 
I  knew  it  then, — that  when  I  got  out  those 
cotton  bales  and  made  them  yours,  I  did  it 
because  I  loved  you  as  I  had  never  dreamed  I 
could  love  any  woman  in  the  world." 

There  was  silence  for  a  time.  Then  Gabrielle 
asked  timidly  :  — 

"  You  will  let  me  return  what  is  left  of  the 
money,  Hugh,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  You  can  bring  it  to  me  as  a  marriage  por 
tion.  You  know  French  women  always  have 
their  dots  when  they  marry." 

"  Hugh,  you  are  incorrigible.  But  I  suppose 
I  must  submit,  after  —  what  has  happened." 

"  Of  course  you  must.  What  else  can  you 
do  ? " 

395 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  Nothing.  You  are  so  strong  and  masterful. 
And  after  all  it  makes  no  difference." 

Then  suddenly  she  lifted  her  head  from  his 
shoulder,  and  asked  :  — 

"  Did  Pierre  come  with  you  ? " 

"  No,"  he  answered.  "  What  a  '  stupid '  I 
am,  as  Lida  says ;  I  brought  you  a  letter  from 
him,  and  I  came  up  to-night  expressly  to 
deliver  it." 

With  that  he  produced  the  missive,  and 
Gabrielle  read  it  eagerly  through. 

"  I'm  glad  you  didn't  remember  to  deliver 
the  letter  before  —  I  mean  sooner." 

"  So  am  I ;  but  why  ?  " 

"  Why,  because  it  is  nearly  all  about  you,  and 
if  I  had  read  it  before  —  if  I  had  read  it  first, 
you  might  have  thought  I  was  influenced  by 
Pierre's  praises  of  you,  and  by  something  he 
says  just  at  the  end  of  the  letter." 

"  May  I  know  what  it  is  ? " 

In  answer  she  handed  the  letter  to  him, 
with  her  finger  upon  the  passage  referred  to. 
In  it  Pierre  had  written  :  — 

"  Hugh  Marvin  is  the  only  man  I  have  ever 
396 


THE  WAY  OF  A   MAN  WITH   A  MAID 

seen  to  whom  I  should  be  rejoiced  to  see  you 
married." 

At  this  moment  the  Hallams  returned,  and 
the  rest  of  the  evening  was  occupied  with  greet 
ings  and  exchanges  of  personal  news  of  one 
kind  and  another. 

After  Hugh  had  gone,  —  Captain  Hallam 
going  with  him,  —  Gabrielle  made  some  excuse 
for  asking  Mrs.  Hallam  to  her  room. 

"  I've  something  to  tell  you,  Lida,"  she  said 
after  the  door  was  closed. 

"Of  course  you  have,"  answered  that  saga 
cious  lady. 

"  But  how  did  you  know  it,  Lida  ? " 

"  What  do  I  keep  a  pair  of  eyes  for  ?  I  read 
it  in  your  face,  and  still  more  plainly  in  Hugh's. 
Besides,  I  expected  it." 

But  she  did  not  explain. 


397 


XXXIX 

FRONT  FACE 

Pierre  cannot  come  to  see  me?" 
asked  Gabrielle,  as  she  and  Hugh  rode 
together  along  the  levee  road  the  next 
morning. 

"  Not  yet.  But  it  will  not  be  long  now. 
Lee  simply  cannot  make  the  retreat  he  is  des 
perately  trying  to  make.  He  must  surrender 
within  a  week  at  most  —  and  news  of  it  may 
come  at  any  hour." 

"Will  that  end  the  war?" 

"  Yes,  —  practically  it  will.  There  are  other 
scattering  Confederate  forces  in  various  parts 
of  the  South,  but  they  will  surrender  as  soon 
as  their  commanders  learn  that  Lee  has  done 
so,  and  then  there  will  be  nothing  left  of  the 
war." 

"What  will  happen  then,  as  you  foresee  it?  " 

398 


FRONT  FACE 

"  The  Southern  soldiers  will  go  back  to  their 
homes  and  go  to  work.  Those  of  them  who  are 
prisoners  will  be  discharged.  In  all  probability 
there  will  be  a  general  amnesty  proclaimed, 
indeed  such  an  amnesty  is  already  in  force  so 
far  as  the  great  mass  of  the  Southerners  is 
concerned.  As  soon  as  the  Southern  forces 
surrender  and  disband,  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclama 
tion,  issued  early  last  winter  in  anticipation  of 
the  end,  will  become  applicable.  Pierre  will 
be  as  free  then  to  go  where  he  pleases  as  I 
am." 

"  Might  I  go  to  New  Orleans  and  see  him  in 
the  meantime  ? " 

"  No.  I  thought  of  that,  and  I  am  now  load 
ing  the  steamboat  that  brought  me  up  the  river. 
I  decided  upon  that  partly  for  the  purpose  of 
detaining  her  long  enough  to  let  you  go  South 
on  a  visit.  But  after  thinking  the  matter  over, 
I  have  decided  otherwise.  Now  that  the  final 
breakup  has  come  there  may  be  disturbances, 
leading  to  harsh  military  measures.  I  don't 
want  you  to  be  exposed  to  danger  or  incon 
venience." 

399 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   THE   SOUTH 

She  put  out  her  hand  in  answer,  and  he 
pressed  it  warmly. 

"  Won't  it  be  a  loss  to  you  to  send  this  steam 
boat-load  of  freight  down  the  river  just  now  ? " 

"  No.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  thoroughly 
good  business.  You  see  it  is  April  now,  and 
there  is  still  time  for  the  Southerners  returning 
to  their  plantations  to  plant  a  cotton  crop. 
They  will  need  supplies  much  faster  than  sup 
plies  can  be  sent  to  New  Orleans,  and  I  look 
for  a  sudden  and  great  advance  in  the  prices 
of  Western  produce  there.  So  does  everybody 
else,  and  if  I  hadn't  secured  the  tonnage  of 
this  steamboat,  Will  Hallam  and  Napper  Tandry 
would  have  been  scrambling  for  the  chance  to 
load  her." 

"But  how  are  the  poor  Southerners  to  buy 
supplies  ?  What  have  they  to  pay  with  ? " 

"  Oh,  that  will  be  easily  arranged.  Those  of 
them  who  own  plantations  will  agree  with  mer 
chants  in  New  Orleans,  giving  them  a  lien  on 
the  cotton  they  are  to  raise,  and  in  return  the 
merchants  will  advance  them  all  the  supplies 
they  need.  There  will  be  many  strong,  new 
400 


FRONT   FACE 

business  houses  opened  in  New  Orleans  for 
that  express  purpose,  and  they  will  have  plenty 
of  capital.  You  see  capital  is  always  in  a  hurry 
to  go  where  it  can  be  employed  at  a  profit,  and 
in  this  case  the  profit  is  both  large  and  certain. 
That  reminds  me  of  a  plan  I've  been  turning 
over  in  my  mind.  I  think,  if  Pierre  is  willing 
to  join  me,  we'll  open  a  New  Orleans  house 
ourselves.  We'll  make  our  style,  'Marvin, 
Latour  &  Co.,'  in  Cairo,  and  '  Latour,  Marvin 
&  Co.,'  in  New  Orleans." 

"But  where  is  Pierre  to  get  the  money  to 
put  into  the  firm  ?  " 

"The  name  'Latour'  is  a  capital  in  itself  in 
New  Orleans,"  Hugh  answered.  "The  old 
clients  of  your  father  and  grandfather  will  come 
to  a  firm  of  which  he  is  the  head.  Will  Hallam 
will  be  the  '  Co.'  in  both  firms,  and  we  shall 
have  the  backing  of  his  bank.  I  spoke  to 
him  about  it  last  night.  Indeed,  he  and  I 
sat  up  nearly  all  night  in  my  office  planning 
it." 

"  Do  you  think  Pierre  will  get  back  the  plan 
tation  and  the  New  Orleans  place  ? " 
401 


A   DAUGHTER   OF   THE   SOUTH 

"  I  am  sure  of  it.  There  never  has  been  any 
serious  suggestion  made,  looking  to  the  general 
confiscation  of  the  property  of  Southerners,  and 
I  think  no  such  suggestion  would  command 
serious  attention  now.  Indeed,  it  would  be 
suicidal  for  the  country  to  attempt  such  a  thing. 
It  would  impoverish  the  whole  South  and  throw 
upon  the  country  the  necessity  of  feeding  many 
millions  of  people.  No,  it  is  certain  that  noth 
ing  of  that  kind  will  be  done.  The  desire  of 
the  government  is  that  the  Southern  soldiers 
shall  go  home,  go  to  work,  and  build  up  their 
prosperity  as  soon  as  possible.  The  growing  of 
a  cotton  crop  down  South  this  year  is  as  vitally 
necessary  to  the  North  as  to  the  South.  For 
the  rest,  what  the  great  body  of  the  people  here 
want,  so  far  as  the  South  is  concerned,  is  peace 
and  a  brisk  trade,  profitable  on  both  sides." 

"Thank  you,"  she  said.  Then  she  lapsed 
into  silence  and  pushed  Hotfoot  into  a  gallop. 
When  she  drew  rein  at  last,  she  turned  her  face 
full  upon  her  companion  and  said  :  — 

"  Hugh,  I  should  like  it  to  be  in  my  own 
home  in  New  Orleans." 
402 


FRONT   FACE 

She  did  not  explain  what  she  meant  by  "  it," 
but  Hugh  understood. 

"  I'll  write  to  Pierre,"  he  said  in  reply,  "  and 
ask  him  to  get  possession  as  soon  as  he  is  free, 
and  to  put  the  place  in  order  between  now  and 
June.  You  shall  go  down  the  river  in  May. 
I'll  ask  Lida  to  go  with  you.  Will  and  I  will 
join  you  there  in  June.  And  Pierre  shall  be 
best  man." 


403 


Dorothy  South 

A  Love  Story  of  Virginia  Before  the  War 

By  GEORGE  GARY  EGGLESTON 
Author  of  "A  Carolina  Cavalier" 

Illustrated  by  C.  D.  "Williams,     J2mo,  dark  red  cloth,  portrait 
cover,  rough  edges,  gilt  top,  $1.50 


'T'HIS  distinguished  author  gives  us  a 
most  fascinating  picture  of  Virginia's 
golden  age,  her  fair  sons  and  daughters,  beau 
tiful,  picturesque  homes,  and  the  luxurious, 
bountiful  life  of  the  old-school  gentleman. 
Dorothy  South  has  been  described  in  these 
characteristic  words  by  Frank  R.  Stockton : 
"  Learned,  lovely  ;  musical,  lovely  ;  loving, 
lovely ;  so  goes  Dorothy  through  the  book, 
and  sad  would  be  the  fate  of  poor  Arthur 
Brent,  and  all  of  us,  if  she  could  be  stolen 
out  of  it."  This  is  a  typically  pretty  story, 
clear  and  sweet  and  pure  as  the  Southern 
sky. 


Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepard  Co.,  Boston 


The   Lions  of  the   Lord 


By   HARRY   LEON   WILSON 

Author  of  "  The  Spenders."  Six  illustrations  by  Rose  Cecil 
O'Neill,  bound  in  dark  green  cloth,  illustrated  cover,  i2mo. 
#'.50,  postpaid. 

In  his  romance  of  the  old  West,  "  The  Lions  of  the  Lord," 
Mr.  Wilson,  whose  "  The  Spenders  "  is  one  of  the  successes 
of  the  present  year,  shows  an  advance  in  strength  and  grasp 
both  in  art  and  life.  It  is  a  thrilling  tale  of  the  Mormon  set 
tlement  of  Salt  Lake  City,  with  all  its  grotesque  comedy, 
grim  tragedy,  and  import  to  American  civilization.  The 
author's  feeling  for  the  Western  scenery  affords  him  an 
opportunity  for  many  graphic  pen  pictures,  and  he  is  equally 
strong  in  character  and  in  description.  For  the  first  time  in 
a  novel  is  the  tragi-comedy  of  the  Mormon  development 
adequately  set  forth.  Nothing  fresher  or  more  vital  has 
been  produced  by  a  native  novelist. 

The   Spenders 

By   HARRY   LEON   WILSON 
70th  Thousand 

Author  of  "The  Lions  of  the  Lord."  Red  silk  cloth,  rough 
edges,  picture  cover.  Six  illustrations  by  Rose  Cecil 
O'Neill.  I2mo.  $1.50,  postpaid. 

Mark  Twain  writes  to  the  author :  "  It  cost  me  my  day 
yesterday.  You  owe  me  $400.  But  never  mind,  I  forgive 
you  for  the  book's  sake." 

Louisville  Courier-Journal  says :  "  If  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  the  American  novel  of  a  new  method,  this  is  one.  Abso 
lutely  to  be  enjoyed  is  it  from  the  first  page  to  the  last." 

Harry  Thurston  Peck,  in  the  New  York  American,  says : 

"  The  very  best  two  books  written  by  Americans  during  the 
past  year  have  been  '  The  Spenders,'  by  Harry  Leon  Wilson, 
and  '  The  Pit,'  by  Frank  Norris." 

Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepard  Co.,  Boston 


Cliveden 


By  KENYON  WEST.     I2mo.   Brown  cloth,  rough  edges. 
Price,  $J.50. 


"  /CLIVEDEN"  is  an  historical  romance  by  Kenyon 
^^  West,  favorably  known  as  the  author  of  sev 
eral  books  of  fiction  and  criticism.  The  story  — 
which  is  quick  in  action,  picturesque  in  scene,  and 
dramatic  in  situation  —  centres  in  the  famous  Chew 
House  in  Germantown,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  at  the  time  when  the  battles  of  Brandy  wine 
and  Germantown  were  being  fought,  and  the  British 
General  Howe  was  threatening  the  native  forces. 
Both  sides  of  the  struggle  are  represented,  the 
American  patriots  and  the  British  redcoats,  and  a 
charming  love-story  is  developed,  in  which  the 
principals  are  a  well-born  American  beauty  and  a 
British  officer  with  a  noble  character.  The  Chew 
residence  is  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  the  attempts 
of  a  British  spy  to  wreck  the  fortunes  of  General 
Washington,  who  is  only  a  few  miles  off,  make 
exciting  reading.  The  volume  is  given  an  appro 
priate  patriotic  dress. 

Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepard  Co.,  Boston 


